Tag: how to be a baby (page 1 of 1)

Starting a New Notebook

Remember our family notebooks? I’m starting a new one!

A few months ago we learned that our family is going to grow bigger by one! We have been thinking (and speaking) in exclamation points since then. I mean, Mitch and I are excited, but the enthusiasm of these two knows no bounds:

Little Book, Big Story

Phoebe has no idea what’s coming.

Little Book, Big Story

It’s too early to tell yet whether this will be our fourth daughter or first son, but the girls have put their vote in for a little brother, to be named either Robin Hood or Peter (as in, Peter “The High King of Narnia” Rosenburg). We, on the other hand, have only seriously discussed girl names. Whether they get their wish or not, we do know that this baby will be well-loved by not one, not two, but three big sisters.

To celebrate, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite books about babies:


How to Be a Baby, By Me the Big Sisterby Sally Lloyd-Jones

How to Be a Baby (By Me, the Big Sister), by Sally Lloyd-Jones | Little Book, Big Story

Sally Lloyd-Jones writes a charming manual on how to be a baby—from the perspective of a six-year-old girl. So funny, you’ll laugh a little too hard when reading it aloud (I’ll say only this: “baby jail”). (Read the full review.)


How God Makes Babies, by Jim Burns

How God Makes Babies | Little Book, Big Story

If you, like me, are a chronic over-explainer who dreads those “How did the baby get in there?” questions not because you fear you’ll say the wrong thing but because you fear you’ll say too much, this is a great book to have on hand. Jim Burns says just the right amount about babies: how they’re made, why they’re made, and what life will be like when they’re born. (Read the full review.)


God Gave Us You, by Lisa Tawn Bergren

God Gave Us You, by Lisa Tawn Bergren | Little Book, Big Story

On the other end of the spectrum is this sweet book. Perfect for little kids who don’t need a biology lesson, just a lesson in where they came from, God Gave Us You is a keeper. (Read the full review.)

God Gave Us You

So, you (or some folks you love) are having a baby, and you want a book that touches on the sweetness of a new baby’s birth without introducing the, ahem, biology behind it all? Look no further.

God Gave Us You follows an inquisitive polar bear’s line of questioning as she asks her mother (also, obviously, a polar bear) how it was she came to be. Mother Polar Bear then fills her child in on the joy and anticipation of pregnancy while high-lighting, again and again, the fact that little bear is an irreplaceable gift from God: “God gave us you.”

God Gave Us You | Little Book, Big Story

I understand that there is a companion book out there for those families graduating from one child to two called God Gave Us Two, but I haven’t read it yet: all I know is that this one was awfully fun for our girls (especially Sarah) as we prepared for Phoebe’s arrival. The story’s refrain served them as a sweet, insistent reminder that God gave us each of them—and we wouldn’t trade our girls for any other baby in the world.

God Gave Us You | Little Book, Big Story

God Gave Us You
Lisa Tawn Bergren, Laura J. Bryant (2000)

How to be a Baby, by Me the Big Sister

Certain authors are going to find their names liberally sprinkled throughout this blog. I should tell you up front that Sally Lloyd-Jones will be one of them.

Like that cool aunt who doesn’t pat heads, pinch cheeks or pull kids onto her lap but just sits on the floor and listens to them, Lloyd-Jones speaks right to children—not at, around or down to them. Also, she works with the most original illustrators and magic happens. It just does.

You probably know about Sally Lloyd-Jones from her classic, The Jesus Storybook Bible. You probably don’t know about her from her How to Be . . . books, of which there are, fortunately, three: How to Be a Baby, by Me the Big Sister; How to Get a Job, by Me the Boss and How to Get Married, by Me the Bride. I was hard-pressed to pick a favorite, but I finally settled on this one because it was the one we met first, and because it makes a great gift for a new big sister. And, as you know, we’ve been in the market for those lately.

How to Be a Baby (By Me, the Big Sister) | Little Book, Big Story

How to Be a Baby features one of the best narrators of my recent acquaintance (Flavia de Luce being another): a little girl, unnamed, who has handily written a guide for her younger brother full of helpful advice like,

“When you’re a baby, it’s not good
because the wind can blow you over.
When you’re a baby, people eat your ice cream for you,
because ice cream isn’t appropriate for babies.

And you’re not allowed to TOUCH ANYTHING.”

She is quirky and endearing and speaks like an honest-to-goodness child (as opposed to an adult trying to sound like a child, which is another thing entirely). Sue Heap’s illustrations bring the whole thing to life with texture and color and drawings that look deceptively simple and perfect.

Sally Lloyd-Jones | Little Book, Big Story

These books make great gifts for children or adults, so if you know a big sister, a bride-to-be or an unemployed friend who really needs a laugh, look no further than the work of Sally Lloyd-Jones.


How to Be a Baby, By Me the Big Sister
Sally Lloyd-Jones, Sue Heap (2011)