Samuel’s Baby by Mark Elkin

Elkin, Mark.  Wummer, Amy. Samuel’s Baby, 32 pages. Tricycle Press, 2010. PICTURE BOOK.  $15.99. Language-G; Sexual Content-G; Violence-G; Samuel so excited to soon be a big brother! But Samuel’s excitement dampens as his school mates point out that he will have to deal with sharing his toys with the new baby, stinky diapers, and too much crying.  Maybe having a baby isn’t going to be in his best interest?  This book is perfect for preparing siblings for the arrival of a new baby.  It is filled with humor and creative writing!  Samuel’s entire Kindergarten class wants in on the action, and before long, each of the students is expecting the arrival of their own “babies”: imaginary beagles, goldfish, triplets, twins.  All in all, their Kindergarten teacher is now looking forward to the arrival of 15” babies”!  We laughed and laughed while reading this book together.  The Kindergarteners were so adorable and so innocent in their efforts to sympathize with Samuel.  EL (K-3)  ESSENTIAL. Reviewer:  SL