Spring 09 LLED, Altoona discussion

Have you read a children's book with an incredible story line about a big brother or big sister? This award will go to the book that demonstrates how an only child transitions into a big brother or big sister. It may be a child with some experience being a big brother or big sister but it must include a reference to the fact that they were an only child. It is required that the book be a picture book and be geared towards children in kindergarten through sixth grade. It is open to fiction, non-fiction, et cetera. Books for emergent through fluent readers are welcome.

"A model is a standard of excellence to be imitated" (Cramer 168). A big brother or big sister is without a doubt a role model for their younger siblings. Cramer is ultimately talking about literature and writing but modeling can refer to a wide range of things. The Sibling Addition Award will go to the book with the best big brother or big sister; making sure to show the transition from an only child to a big brother/big sister.

The deadline for nominations for this award is March 5, 2009.

This award will be dedicated to my two younger siblings. My brother who passed away in 2005 and my newest little sister who was born in 2008 (21 years after me).

Resource: Cramer, Ronald L. Creative Power: The Nature and Nurture of Children's Writing. New York: Allyn., 2001.

I nominate "I Going to be a Big Brother" by Brenda Bercun because it is the perfect book for a young boy who is going to be a first time big brother. This winner of the iParenting Media Book Awards Best of 2007 is about Sam's mother who becomes pregnant. He must learn about preparing for the new baby's arrival and what it truly means to be a big brother. Perfect for children ages 4-8 and is a great tool for both the child and parent. This book comes with a musical CD to have your older and younger sibling dancing around along with colorful pictures to follow the text.

I nominate "That New Animal" by Emily Jenkins . FudgeFudge and Marshmallow are two dogs used to getting all of the attention and belly-rubs, but when the new animal arrives (the baby), they become jealous and decide to handle the situation. this is a touching little story about a family addition that does a great job with personification of the dogs as well.

I nominate "Froggy's Baby Sister". This book is written by Jonathan London and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. This book was written in 2003 and published by The Penguin Group.
This book is written about Frogs and Froggy finds out that he is getting a baby sister. This book is very cute and the illustrations are absolutely adorable!
I would use this book during a read aloud. This book would be good fro children k-3.

I nominate "How to be an older brother or sister" written and illustrated by Mike Venezia. This is a great book coming from the child's point of view that was the only child. This book tells us things that we might not think about like how we need the child to be quiet and it also goes into things that it sees as positive for being an older brother or sister. The book uses different characters and different little stories to express differing opinions on the addition of a baby to a family.

I nominate "Bridget and the Moose Brothers" by Pija Lindenbaum. This book is about a girl named Bridget that is tired of being an only child. She wishes she had siblings. When three moose were at her doorstep and wanted to be her brothers, she let them in. The moose wrecked the house and Bridget realized that it's not so bad being an only child. Children without siblings will see how Bridget feels in the story and children that do have siblings can either agree or disagree with how the moose behave. Nevertheless, the story is colorful and entertaining. This book would be great for children from kindergarten through 6th grade.

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I nominate "What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby" by Heidi Murkoff. This book uses a dog named Angus to help answer questions. This book extends a hand to children and parents as they try and help each other understand what it is going to be like with a new member of the family arriving. This book deserves to win the Sibling Addition Award because it goes through each step before the baby comes and explains it in terms a child would understand.

I nominate the book "Socks" by Beverley Cleary, which is narrated by a family's pet cat, who is shocked by the addition of a new baby to the family. This book would be appropriate as a read aloud for an elementary classroom Grades 2-5. Presented from the cat's point of view, Socks goes through all the emotions any child would with the introduction of a new sibling to the family -- excitement, hesitation, jealousy, anger, and finally love and acceptance. This book provides a wonderful opportunity for children to talk about their feelings about their place in the family, and the addition of new siblings, past or present.

I nominate "Barfburger Baby, I was Here First", by Paula Danziger. This story is about a little boy who becomes a big brother. He doesn't like it at first;he creates all sorts of names to call the baby brother. Then as the story goes on, he decides it's not so bad being a big brother. This would be a humorous read aloud book.

I nominate the book "Twinnies" by Eve Bunting. This book, suggested for children ages 4-8, is a great preparatory tool to use when a family is expecting twins. For an older sibling, the time spent on the new babies is time that seems to have been stolen from them. This book explains how much work goes into caring for twins and how an older sibling might be able to help out with the extra work. This book deserves to win The Sibling Addition Award because of its ability to show an older sibling that he or she can really help to care for his or her new siblings.

I nominate the book, "Tommy's New Sister" by Gerda Marie Scheidl for "The Sibling Addition Award". The story is about a boy named Tommy who lives at home with his Mom, Dad and dog, Muffin. His parents have a new baby that they bring home, and name her Wendy. I nominated the book because of the way Tommy reacts to his new sister. The way he deals with a new sibling is typical of any young child. For example, he tries to put his baby sister into the box that he brought his dog home in when he was a puppy to send her away. The illustrations are also great and this book would be appropriate for grades 2-4.

I nominate "Jin Woo" by Eve Bunting. "Jin Woo" is the name of the baby who young David's parents are going to adopt from Korea. David is not so sure about all of this excitement though. The text and life-like illustrations by Chris Soentpiet vividly depict some of the strong emotional responses that children can have when a new sibling addition comes along, which is why I feel that this book is deserving of this award.

I nominate “What the No-Good Baby is Good for” by Elise Broach.

This book is about an only child whose mother has recently had a baby. The older sibling tells his mother that the young addition must go and decides to pack a suitcase for the little child.
While packing, the boy realizes that he likes his new sister and decides she should stay.