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A new baby came home ISBN: 9781844930210
Dangerfield, Ellie and O'Loughlin, Elizabeth
Published by Pangolin Books (It Happened to Me series), 2005
The child in this story (it could be a boy or a girl) likes being an only child, and when New Baby arrives, he/she feels left out. He/She is also a bit frightened because of not understanding how the baby got into mummy's tummy! Sometimes the child likes the baby, but sometimes wants 'to throw it in the dustbin'. When mum cuddles New Baby, the child feels sick, and mum sometimes says the child is 'too big' to cuddle. Mum is always tired too, and never has time to play. The parents in this story are not overly sensitive to the child's needs - a realistic point. The child's friend, Julie, has a baby in her family too, but she tells the child there are advantages: she can tell the baby what to do because she's bigger, and she can get by with things because mum is too busy to see what she is doing! The child's retrogressive behaviour is shown clearly in both pictures and text, but there is hope at the end when the child gets to hold New Baby and enjoy his cuddles. He/She also remembers the baby's name is Dan, a sign, surely, that he/she is finally seeing him as a person. The pictures, drawn by a child, are an excellent match for the text. Elizabeth O'Loughlin is a psychotherapist who has great experience of working with children. A very much child-centred book, useful for discussion with jealous siblings - and parents will get some good tips too!
Age: 5+