9 Months: A month by month guide to pregnancy for the family to share

by Courtney Adamo, Esther van de Paal, Dinara Mirtalipova (Illustrations)

Can you believe that every one of us started as a tiny egg in our mummy's belly? One tiny cell, not bigger than a speck of dust, will grow into a baby in just nine months time. In this book, we follow this amazing process called pregnancy, and see the miracle of a creation of a new life. This fun and informative way to prepare your child for the arrival of their new baby brother or sister is written by two of today's most popular mum bloggers in the English language world, and co-founders of Courtney Adamo and Esther Van de Paal. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2017

Reviews

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book to help parents explore pregnancy with their young children. It's informative and age-appropriate and I really loved the illustrations! The downside is that it is very heteronormative and does not really make room for families that don't fit the typical mold. Even the reference to sperm says that it's from "Papa," leaving out families that may have used a donor or similar. For this reason I can only recommend it with reservations.

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed look at each month of pregnancy. Back matter has even more info for each month. For readers who want more after Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, interesting facts, and helpful comparisons that liken the size of the growing embryo/fetus to a well-known object.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

August 2018 - a bit too much information for Ben, not that anything was inappropriate, but that it was just more than he was interested in at 5. It's lovely to look at, but not very succinct and it doesn't flow well as a read-aloud. Maybe more interesting to an older child reading it on their own.

[Tommy Schlosser · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I rate every book I rarely add text in this section, but with the bad press of the other reviews I want to state in simple terms that if you want a well designed book with appropriate graphics and text for Elementary aged children this is it. This does not get into more politicized options that are out there; so if you want to explain those options find another book.

[Melissa McAlvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Norah and Hazel both love this book. Easy to simplify for younger readers or add more for older.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age: Preschool-1st grade

A sweet and easily digestible (don't eat the baby!) book to share with older siblings to help explain the anatomical changes happening to their mommy during pregnancy. Although its strength lies in its brevity, this is also its weakness. It leaves out the many different paths an inutero baby may take to birth--in vitro fertilization, nonhetero families--or miscarriages. It does briefly mention home births but that is the only "alternative" it provides. Side notes or a 2 page spread on these alternatives would have been an easy solution, but this information is, unfortunately, left up to the parent to include.

Love the pictures and the simple presentation but it is not inclusive.

Update to come in order to provide alternate book suggestions.

[Alexandra Calaway · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book says it's a step by step family guide but what it really means is, it's a guide for heterosexual couples who plan to have a baby. (Lesbian couples have children?! What?!) Also, neither miscarriage nor abortion were addressed. Women can choose to terminate a pregnancy for so many reasons and miscarriage is really a very common thing. Both of these circumstances deserve at least a mention, so this fell short for me. The audience is very limited to "traditional" families and that's sad. There are other types of families who are just as valid and deserve to be talked about and celebrated with kids. I'll look for more diverse books about pregnancy to recommend to library patrons.

[A Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wish this book was more inclusive because the information is neat and something I wish I could share with my family. But, as others have said, this book is very heteronormative! It also reinforces the gender binary, especially on the "boy or girl" page. The parents are called "mama" and "papa" throughout. This book just doesn't represent my family in any way; I would have to change too much to make it work.

[Taylor Kundel-Gower · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess this is pretty comprehensive if you're straight and have a heteronormative family or something?

[Ad Astra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh that is beautiful. It's a lovely book full of information. You can pair down the information for younger kids or read it all the way through. Illustrations are charming and lovely.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

The information in this book is basic and easy for any age to understand. This book follows the stages of a babies development in the womb.