Love You, Bro! Big Brothers Are The Best by Fran Manushkin

OUR BABY IS LITTLE, AND I AM BIG.

I AM A BIG BROTHER!

Big brothers are busy. They have to learn to put up with loud bawling and stinky diapers from the new baby. They have to share Dad and Mom with THE BABY, whether they like it or not.

But big brothers have perks! They sleep in a big-boy bed instead of a baby crib. And when trying to be quiet during baby's naptime gets to be too much quiet, big brothers get to go outside by themselves and yell and kick a soccer ball all around the backyard. And when the baby goes to bed early, they get special playtime with their parents, building castles with Mom and flying toy planes with Dad.

They are big enough to help dress the baby and retrieve a clean nappy when he needs a change!

And a big brother is big enough to know that this baby won't always be a baby.

"ONE DAY YOU WILL BE BIG ENOUGH TO PLAY WITH ME!"

For families with an only child suddenly promoted to big brother status, Fran Manuskin's Big Brothers Are the Best (Fiction Picture Books) (Picture Window/Capstone Books) takes the new sibling through the steps of older siblinghood, accentuating the positive and the promise of a future friend and playmate. Kristen Richards' simple illustrations spot the art in appealing vignettes of family life that inspire big brothers to settle into what is, after all, to be their lifetime roles!

Once in a Lifetime: One Special Day by Lola M. Schaeffer

SPENCER WAS A BOY.

HE WAS STRONG.

Parents drive away, leaving Spencer for a visit to his happy grandmother's farm, a place just meant for boyhood adventures. Spencer revels in his outdoor fantasies, pulling a branch down to pick ripe apples with a bear, tall and strong enough to greet a giraffe from a treetop, fast enough to outrun a friendly horse, and wild and free enough to outrace a tiger.

But there's another reason for Spencer's visit to Grandmother's besides a chance for outdoor pretending.

Spencer's parents return, and his mother is hugging a small bundle, a baby!

Spencer is not just strong, fast, tall, and wild--he's...

A BIG BROTHER!

And Spencer the strong and wild can also be quiet and gentle, as he settles down to hold his new baby brother on his lap for the first time.

Lola Schaeffer's newest, One Special Day (A Story for Big Brothers and Sisters) (Hyperion, 2012), makes great use of the sweet and lovely illustrations of Jessica Meserve, which follow this family through the events of one very special day, closing with Spencer cuddling the new baby on a picnic cloth in the woods while his fantasy animals watch quietly from the trees and Mom, Dad, and Grandmother smile with happiness. A nicely insightful entry into the new-baby genre.