Tuesday, December 23, 2014

The Year of the Baby (Book#2) by Andrea Cheng –OPTIONAL

Cheng, Andrea and Illustrated by Barton, Patrice The Year of the Baby (Book#2) 176 pgs, HMH Books for Young Readers; 2014. $15.99 Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G Violence: G
In this book #2 of a series, Anna is enjoying becoming a good big sister to her families adopted baby girl from China. Kaylee, the baby, isn’t eating enough food and the doctors are worried. The family tries to all kinds of foods to get her to eat, her Grandma even trying special herbs. Anna finally decides to try something new, singing. Will singing help Kaylee to eat more? Can Anna use her experiment as her science fair project?
This is a sweet and wholesome book with charming illustrations by one of my favorite illustrators. The author builds a very authentic character who is a great role model for students. She learns to accept and celebrate her Chinese heritage, is a great big sister, studies diligently and a good friend. The problem here? Its so so boring. Add to it a discussion on breastfeeding, and tons of information on ‘failure to thrive’ and I was yawning. Although I felt like this was a very true to life, day to day, kind of story, I think students are already living their own true to life story, and might be bored like I was reading about studying and baby food.

EL –OPTIONAL  Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.

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