School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Sophie Peterman is going to tell the truth about bringing home a new baby, and the truth can be ugly! Babies are like aliens, pirates, and monsters, disrupting the tranquility you previously enjoyed as an only child. Babies will rummage through your underwear drawer, raid your Halloween candy stash, and swallow your favorite marble if you're not careful. On top of all that, they make strange noises, stink up their diapers, and leak. If you are really not careful, a baby can endear himself to you by being completely adorable and wanting only to be with you. Sarah Weeks's picture book (S & S/Beach Lane Books, 2009) about the pros and cons of a new sibling is enhanced by Robert Neubecker's colorful, energetic illustrations and Ann Scobie's vibrant narration. Sophie is loud, smart, and spunky. Upbeat background music complements the story. Page-turn signals are optional. A humorous, fresh take on being an older sibling.-April Mazza, Wayland Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In a rant worthy of talk radio, young Sophie warns readers of the horrors of siblinghood: "Babies are not sweet. Babies are not precious. Babies are not cute. Babies are... your worst nightmare!" If readers need further proof of Sophie's claims, Neubecker (Wow! School!), wonderfully in his element, offers a portrait of infant-as-alien worthy of the Weekly World News (in addition to aliens, Sophie also compares babies to pirates and monsters). Truth (actually) be told, all of Sophie's complaints are familiar to the genre: babies are smelly crybabies, attention hoggers and violators of personal space and property. But Weeks (Catfish Kate and the Sweet Swamp Band) makes the material fresh: her heroine has an indelible personality and a voice that spills off the page, aided by comic typography ("If you have to sit next to a monster all the way to your aunt and uncle's house in Syracuse, New York, do not breathe in through your nose"). Fully owning her wounded rage, Sophie seethes with precocious certitude as she marshals evidence (she's big on lists) and wields rhetorical flourishes-the text is a gift to anyone reading aloud. Ages 4-8. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
