WAITING FOR SOPHIE

Waiting for a little sister to be born and then waiting for her to grow up can be trying, but it eventually has its rewards.

As the book starts, Liam, a white kindergartner, is being woken up by his Nana-Downstairs “Big news. Baby Sophie is on her way. Mom and Dad went to the hospital.” Finally, after waiting through half of kindergarten and through Liam’s birthday, Sophie is on her way. It turns out even being born takes time. And then when Sophie comes home it is just “burping and crying and diapers and a little bit of throwing up.” It is all very boring. Liam turns to Nana-Downstairs—with whom he has a very warm and close relationship—for help. Together they build a Get Older Faster machine. But will it work? And what will Liam learn from the experiment? Nana-Downstairs sets the tone for this down-to-earth, sweet, but never mushy story. The accompanying illustrations have a simple, gentle quality that neatly matches the story. The hand-printing–style type used for the text also complements the story and is easy for readers entering the world of early chapter books to decode.

Warmth and quiet humor capture the realities of a new baby in the house.