Aren't You Lucky!: A New Baby Story

This is a really lovely book for small children. The illustrations are perfect, with lots of detail to encourage discussion. Some illustrations are full page, others are a lot smaller, for example the timeline of a nine-month pregnancy is illustrated in seasons of the year. The text is not too wordy, but just enough. The story starts off with the news of the expected baby, the child who runs out of patience waiting for the arrival, followed by the visit to hospital and the baby coming home. What I loved about this was it doesn't make this experience all rosy, as it often isn't for small children, obviously, but it then talks about the ways in which the child can help their mum with nappy changing, bath time, etc. The child thinks about ways in which they can be involved more with the baby, and ends up with the two of them having fun in lots of different ways and them becoming friends. I highly recommend this to anyone expecting a baby who has an older child. Suitable for both boys and girls, as the child in this book could be seen as either male or female.

Love this book and my son did too! We bought it about six weeks before his baby brother arrived when my eldest was just under 3.5 years old. This book does talk about the baby being in mummy’s tummy, but does beyond that to life after the baby has come home and the frustrations for the elder sibling about that and how it is resolved. It is told in the first person and I think the drawings are lovely and ambiguous about whether it is a boy or a girl - the baby is a boy. I think it really helped to prepare my three year old for being a big brother and I recommend it.

My daughter, who is nearly 4 and a half, is really enjoying this book while awaiting the arrival of her little sister. I like that this book isn't all rainbows and butterflies about a new baby coming to the family, like some other books are. It talks about things being hard sometimes and that is realistic! It still gives a very positive spin throughout and my little girl is even more excited for new baby!

I really wanted a book that showed the reality of becoming an older sibling after been the only child for a while. This book's honesty about the trials and tribulations is refreshing as it isn't always easy for anyone in the family but so many books concentrate on "how lucky" children are to get a younger sibling. The story then takes a step forward with a solution for the eldest and her parents in her becoming their Helper. I had bought this book for a curriculum development project but will be buying it as a gift too. Another Anholt success.

Lovely book with an easy message for young children.

Great book

Lovely book to warm a child up to having a sibling. Moral of the story is "baby is lucky to have you" we continued to say this even when not reading the story. Very nice message.

Bought for a neighbours little girl she loved it