Here’s my Perfect Picture Book Friday choice:
The Baby Tree
Author and Illustrator Sophie Blackall
Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014
Fiction
Suitable for: ages 5-8
Themes: Siblings, Where do babies come from? (Conception, Birth)
Opening Lines: from a really cute double spread with multiple images —
After I wake up and after I get out of bed, after I wake Dad and wake up Mom and waked up Dad again, and after I get dressed and feed Brian, we have breakfast.
Synopsis: (from the book summary) After learning that his parents are expecting a baby, a young boy asks several people where babies come from and gets a different answer from each before his parents have a change to give the right answer. Includes advice on answering questions about reproduction.
Link to resources: The book contains a single page on “Answering the Question Where Do Babies Come From?” If your child has more questions after reading the book, go into this page. There is also an answer on adoption and for babies with two moms or two dads.
Why I like this book: I can’t recall where the book was mentioned now (horrible I know!), but it was truly a delight to receive this in my last pile of library books. It pulls so many pieces of the baby puzzle together for a child. The young, boy narrator pulls the pieces together to make a great story. This story is filled with an assortment of characters, who each contribute a piece to the baby puzzle. The Baby Tree is perfect in many ways. Enzo and I enjoyed this. He asked me to read it again. However, he did not ask for a new baby. Yay! The illustrations are very lovely. My favorites are the baby tree and the babies at the hospital. The mailman’s facial expression is hilarious. That one may be more for the parent reader!
For more PPBF selections, visit Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog.
This one was on my radar too, Stacey, so i am glad you have highlighted it.
I’m glad this title bubbled up in my travels on the Internet, so i could highlight it. I really love the story and the blending of so many characters.
Looks SO cute and clever. Will have to add to my growing PB collection.
It’s fun one and a great one for me to study as a writer.
Hahaha. . . Funny! Sounds like a perfect book to broach the topic, Stacy. Good pick! I’ll check this one out soon. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.
Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving too Jarm.
What a great book. I love that cover. Need to check it out as a gift. When I was kid, I don’t remember questioning where babies came from — I was the eldest of four. And, at that time families were larger and everyone’s mother was pregnant. So babies came from tummies. Will check this out for daughter-in-law.
I don’t recall asking, but it really is a unique story to answer the question.
Looks like a cute one. I like Ms Blackall’s work!
I like the twist with the grandfather in the end.
That cover illustration is priceless! Will have to check this one out from the library. Thanks for the heads up!
Cute. And babies growing on trees. We are spirits with roots, after all. Enzo didn’t ask for a baby -smart child 😉 Happy Friday.
This one looks adorable and my library has it! I will be checking it out.
I love how many leaf and tree books there are this Friday. Such a nice selection. Thanks Stacy! 🙂
Perhaps you saw it on the Picture Book Month site? That’s where it caught my eye. So glad you’ve reviewed it. If not, definitely check out Sophie’s article on why picture books are impotant. I loved it.
Sounds like a good one! I’m not familiar with it so thanks for sharing!
Stacy,
What a sweet cover. Sounds like a book to read. 🙂
I have a hold on this at the library but haven’t read it yet. Thanks for the preview!
Hehe – it was in my pile too, Stacey – and I couldn’t remember what caused me to request it either. Must be something we are doing or have done together? Could it have been on Mira Reisberg’s blog, perhaps? Or something from PiBoIdMo? ANYhow – I liked it too – LOVED the ending – gave me and my 11-year-old quite the giggle.
What a great cover! Kind of like how I imagined a “family tree” when my parents would talk about it… sounds like a wonderful book to share with a kid.