  | Nine months : before a baby is born Author: Paul, Miranda | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
As a baby grows in her mother's tummy, a soon-to-be big sister and her family spend nine months preparing for the newest member of the family to arrive.
| Illustrator: | Chin, Jason |
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: LG Reading Level: 1.00 Points: .5 Quiz: 508577 |
Common Core Standards
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → K.RI Key Ideas & Details
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → K.RI Craft & Structure
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → K.RI Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 1 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 1.RI Key Ideas & Details
Grade 1 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 1.RI Craft & Structure
Grade 1 → Reading → RI Informational Text → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (02/01/19)
School Library Journal (02/01/19)
Booklist (+) (02/01/19)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/05/19)
The Hornbook (+) (00/05/19)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 02/01/2019 *Starred Review* The parents of a small child tell her that she is going to be a big sister. Caldecott honoree Chin’s detailed gouache and watercolor illustrations skillfully depict the changes in the fetus month-by-month; they also show the family of three and its activities. Verso pages have drawings of the fetus developing, while the recto pages show the family’s movements as they wait and prepare for the new infant. Pictures of month four through month nine reveal the actual size of the growing baby, while the illustrations of the first three months tell what the size would be and show a magnified illustration. The story is told in short rhymes: “Lashes. / Flashes. / Systems grow strong. / Feel all those hiccups! / Feel her stretch long.” A double spread on month three pictures the pregnant woman having an ultrasound: “Grow. / Hello. / The size of a grape. / More features form . . . / See them take shape.” Readers watch the seasons change, from late winter to summer to fall, as the baby grows and gets ready for birth. The last picture of the unborn child takes a full double spread. A fun and interesting addendum, “More about Babies,” consists of four pages filled with facts about babies before they are born. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 02/01/2019 K-Gr 4—Beginning with a fertilized egg ("Small. Ball. The point of a pin. Then it divides…"), Paul tracks the gestation of a human fetus in poetic yet matter-of-fact language. In exacting detail (later images are labeled "actual size"), Chin depicts the developing child at specified days or weeks on one side, while on the facing pages he follows a couple and their preschool-age daughter as they share a bilingual "new baby" book, visit the doctor to see an ultrasound image, go about daily routines in their suburban house, set up furniture and supplies, and finally gather with doting grandparents at the bed where mother and newborn baby girl nestle. The author expands on her terse narrative at the end in engaging observations that include notes on fetal hiccups, how taste buds develop immersed in amniotic fluid that is actually flavored by what the mother eats, what unborn children can sense, and other wonders—plus a brief, sensitive acknowledgement that miscarriages happen but it's nobody's fault. Sex at one end of the process and cesarean sections at the other go unmentioned. Though the bibliography leaves Robie H. Harris out of the mix, it does include several comprehensive resources for parents. VERDICT A bright, savvy heads-up for younger children in growing families; equally useful for shaping expectations and providing realistic glimpses of what's going on inside a pregnant person.—John Peters, Children's Literature Consultant, New York - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
