The Baby Tree
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.