Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A whimsical yet accurate look at many different aspects of prenatal development. Told from a pregnant woman's point of view, the lighthearted rhyming text begins, "Before you were born and with 9 months to go..." and counts down to delivery day. In the bottom left corner of each double-page spread is a thumbnail drawing of a baby along with an informational tidbit on a developmental milestone that each month brings. For example, readers learn that at seven months to go, "You were now starting to smile and frown." The facing page then focuses on one identifying event for that month such as hearing the baby's heartbeat, feeling the effects of the hiccups, or experiencing rapid weight gain. After focusing on the mother's perspective, a postcard-sized flap can be lifted to reveal the fetus, happily painting its growing nails or gleefully dancing, boom box in hand. Loose, jaunty, black-ink lines and splashy watercolors support the humorous tone of these anecdotal vignettes that are sure to garner laughs as the woman's belly grows out of proportion to her tall skinny face. Readers will enjoy the interactive nature of this energetic title.-Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In halting rhyme, this lift-the-flap month-by-month countdown to a baby's birth informs young children about some of the changes mother and fetus experience along the way. Unfortunately, the potentially accurate glimpse at what goes on in utero is undermined by the goofy cartoon illustrations, which seem more interested in being funny than in giving a sense of what a developing fetus actually looks like. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Another look for the very young at what's going on (in loose terms) inside a mother's belly during the nine months of pregnancy. Every spread is devoted to one of the months. The left page is given over to a simple one-line countdown--e.g., ``Before you were born and with 9 months to go . . .'' There is also a tiny illustration tucked into a corner of this page, accompanied by a kernel of hard information, such as when the baby grows hair and nails. The opposite page has an illustration of the mother, getting bigger and clumsier and experiencing the preborn's movements. A flap lifts to reveal the baby in its home, going through its changing paces; it's a neat gimmick, and the payoff is Cornell's artwork, lighthearted and comical, pretty much as far from a biology lesson as one can get (the baby is a congenial cartoon, often clothed or accessorized, who, but for its umbilical cord, could live inside or outside the womb). There is a gap between the clever design and premise, and the information given: Davis's mild rhyming text plays pregnancy mostly for laughs and reassurance; more intriguing are the factual snippets on the lefthand pages, which will have more than one listener merrily imagining the time he or she was the size of a flea, or, even better, curled up and the size of a toaster. (Picture book. 3-6)
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