Book for Big Brothers?

[Anonymous]

I have a 2 year old and I've been prowling Amazon looking for at least one good book to help prepare him for the arrival of his baby brother in a couple of months. Joanna Cole's Big Brother gets high marks, but only pictures bottlefeeding. Did anyone have any luck with a good sibling book that depicted breastfeeding?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions on a big brother/sibling book that features people of color? We want to have a global perspective and these forums have always come through with great suggestions on anything I've asked.

Thank you and happy holidays to all!

[Anonymous]

My oldest was 3 when our baby was born. He loved the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer. Specifically he liked "Just Me and My Little Brother" and "The New Baby." Plus I liked them because they were a throwback to my childhood!

We are a biracial family and it's very hard to find books that depict families of color (or more than one color for that matter!).

Congrats on your pregnancy!

http://www.amazon.com/Just-Me-Little-Brother-Pictureback/dp/0307126285/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229984004&sr=1-24

http://www.amazon.com/New-Baby-Mercer-Mayer/dp/0307119424/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229984029&sr=1-2

[Anonymous]

OP here and I wanted to write back in that there were a couple of terrific finds that I came across:

1. I'm a Big Brother by Joanna Cole was a big hit with our little guy. We like how it shows Dad involved and a "whole house" concept to the "our" baby; there is no nursing depicted, although it's easy to throw it in, especially if you have the next book, too.

2. We have a Baby by Cathryn Falwell-- just awesome-- very simple wording that encourages you to elaborate and point things out, like how the baby is holding the big brother's finger, how to make sure you support the baby's head when holding, and positive nursing images; and the family looks diverse-- could be lightskinned or multi-racial.

Our son really enjoyed these books. I checked out a bunch of big sibling books from the library first to see what went over before committing to buying and it was worth that additional step, as I npw have books he just loves.

3. We also read On Mother's Lap by Ann Herbert Scott. It is about an Innuit family, so they have some skin color. Our son didn't seem to like this one as much, although it was a sweet story about how there will always be room on your lap for the older sibling, even when the baby wants to be there, too. Warning to animal lovers, it does show the use of a blanket made from reindeer hide, but that can be easily edited in your out-loud readings.

Thanks for the suggestions and hopefully this will provide some guidance to another family in need.