Synopses & Reviews
It's a subject kids love to hear about-what was I like when I was little? It's also a subject parents can discuss to help prepare a preschooler for a new sibling-this is what the baby will be doing when he or she comes home from the hospital. With an instinctive sense of what matters to kids and the grown-ups who read to them, Jennifer Davis and Laura Cornell celebrate the extraordinary milestones of a child's first year. Before You Were Big is an irresistible, lift-the-flap follow-up to Before You Were Born, a "spirited, kid-friendly, ingenious" (Boston Globe) story of pregnancy with 122,000 copies in print. Each spread tells, foremost, the story of what happens month by month, from minutes after birth to baby's first birthday. Then, under the flaps, young brothers and sisters see how far they've come since. So when the main image is about a floppy two-month-old being bathed in the sink, under the flap it's: "Now you've mastered the art of bubbly disguises,/So tub time is filled with jokes and surprises." A third layer gives facts about development, for example, how babies begin to prop themselves up in a catlike position by five months. Kids learn about soft spots and swaddling, first steps and parallel play. Jennifer Davis writes in whimsical, rhyming verse, while Laura Cornell-who is also the illustrator of Jamie Lee Curtis's bestselling children's books, with over 2.3 million copies in print-brings it all to life with her fun, bouncy, brightly colored art.
Synopsis
DESCRIPTION With joy and humor, Before You Were Big describes the incredible development that occurs during the first year of life--from minutes after birth through to baby's first birthday. The month-by-month, lift-the-flap format enables preschool-age readers to see how far they've come since they were born--outside the flap shows baby's development; underneath we see the preschooler's related accomplishments. The book also prepares soon-to-be siblings for the arrival of a newborn. Kids discover that a new baby won't start out like the bouncing babies they see on TV--in the beginning he'll eat and sleep all day--and that it takes time before a little one can play.
About the Author
Jennifer Davis, a mother of four, wrote Before You Were Born to answer the questions her older kids asked while she was pregnant. She lives in Beaufort, South Carolina.Laura Cornell has illustrated many children's book, including Jamie Lee Curtis's Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born and When I Was Littleand Leah Komaiko's Annie Bananie and Earl's Too Cool for Me. She lives in New York City.