Before You Were Born: A Lift-The-Flap Book

Rating:
Summary: Good, if you are mainstream...
Review: ... but if you are planning an out of hospital birth or a birth with midwives, it's not quite as peachy. There is an illustration of mom at the doctor's office getting checked out early on, a reference in the text to her seeing the doc when baby drops, and then she rushes off to the hospital to push and push in the final pages. No room for birth center or homebirth, the midwifery model of care or self-care.

There is also a full-page illustration of father dusting off a crib.

I also had a hard time identifying with the mother in the illustrations, who is very white upper-middle class in her dresses, make-up and workout clothing.

Parenting, lifestyle, and birth choices aside, this is definitely a book written by a mother, not a writer, and sometimes the rhymes are a bit forced. The illustrations make up for it in their jolly attitude, but are not caldecott contenders- they are quick and dirty cartoon style pen and ink, colorwash type things, with little art.

However, if you see an OB regularly, have a seperate nursery for baby, and like Martha Stewart, this book might be right on target for you!

Rating:
Summary: Great for pregnancies after infertility too
Review: As a fertility counselor and co-author of Helping the Stork, I'm always on the lookout for books on reproduction appropriate for parents whose pregnancy began with great joy after tough times, and maybe even the help of an egg or sperm donor. This book, told from the mom's and baby's viewpoints, would be great for any singleton pregnancy. It is not ideal for mom-only families; dads may find the illustrations of their supporting role pretty funny - the whole book is!

Rating:
Summary: A Baby Classic. A Must For Every Gandmother's Library
Review: As a grandmother of many curious grandchildren, I often reach for this book to explain a subject that fascinates them: how they grew in their mom's belly. "Before You Were Born" is packed full of facts and is at the same time a fun read. Jennifer Davis's text will make you and your children giggle. And Laura Cornell, who also illustrates Jaime Lee Curtis' books, has kept the subject light and whimsical. You can take the story as far as you want. It is a book we read over and over.

Rating:
Summary: A must have for all moms to be!
Review: As a mom to be, I plan to read to my child and encourage her to love learning. I know from my next door neighbor's children (ages 2 and 4) that they are very inquisitive about what is happening to me while my child grows inside me. This book really helped them understand about the new life that was on the way. It's written in terms children understand...they loved the little flaps, because it made it interactive for them!

Rating:
Summary: Michelle M.
Review: I absolutely love this book! As a pregnant mother-to-be it brought tears to my eyes, which moved me to buy it. Then as my first-born has gotten older (2 1/2) I love to read it to her. Talking about her birth and when she was "in my tummy" is one of her favorite topics. Now that she has witnessed the pregnancy and subsequent arrival of her sister, Amanda is even more intrigued with this book. I love how it can be geared to a young child and more involved for an older child. On each page is a little "factoid" that would be very interesting to an older child (and many adults too.)

Rating:
Summary: Not the best book for preparing toddlers
Review: I ordered this book, along with several others, to help prepare my 2-year old daughter for the arrival of her new baby sister. While the illustrations are charming and the text is cute, this book is much better suited for the older child, of the amusement of adults. It simply does not hold my toddler's attention. ...

Rating:
Summary: my kids loved it BUT
Review: My 2 year old son & 3 year old neice love this book. The only problem I have is with the line "For about 9 months we became chummy while you developed inside of my tummy". I'd rather use the word uterus or womb to descibe where babies grow. Children refer to their stomach as their tummy & I don't want my son to be confused & think babies develop in their mothers stomach.

Beside that line it was a cute story. Each page starts like "Before you were born and with 9 months to go..." and gives a little fact about what's going on each month.

Rating:
Summary: Michelle M.
Review: The too-whimsical illustrations and awkward rhymes interfere with communication and enjoyment of what is (and should be) a fascinating topic for my four-year-old daughter (who is soon to become a big sister). For example, she found the green-faced morning sickness picture disturbing and the tea-cup / hiccough rhyme perplexing (as I did). Overall mediocre - it is chosen for bedtime reading very, very rarely. It skirts around the real questions of what's going on inside (hiding behind cutsie rhymes) - especially for the bright-sensitive type kids who are worried about the changes in mommy's pregnant body.

Rating:
Summary: Good for toddlers
Review: This is a great and fun book to explain pregnancy to a child. We love to read it over and over and over. I bought it when I got pregnant of my second child, and we would follow the progress, month by month. M y older child could see that I was going through the same things as the lady in the book (Nausea in the beginning, a burst of energy later, feeling heavy...)