"We're having a baby" children's books. (15w2d)

I let the kids choose their own books from the library and they must have stumbled up on the "new baby" section because we came home with about 6 or 7 of them out of the 18 or so we checked out.

And I swear, most of them talk about how this baby sucks. And I'm moving out when this baby gets here. And all this baby does is cry and poop. And can we give it back? They all end well, of course, with the child coming to realize that the baby is cool. But that happens in the last two pages because the baby finally smiles or laughs.

I'm all for a dose of reality with regard to what life's going to be like when the baby arrives. But there has to be some better books out there that talks about how great it is that mom is expecting a baby. Not that I don't think the other books have some merit ... because God knows babies do cry and poop a lot. But still. This isn't the end of the world! Quite the contrary, in my opinion.

Here are some links and summaries:

Benny and Beautiful Baby Delilah. Benny hates Delilah. She is NOT beautiful. She takes Benny's place on Mommy's lap (Dad's isn't good enough). And his tickle time. And his crib. And he acts like a typical attention-seeking kid when people come to visit Delilah (who ignores the older kids anyway?). He wants to give her back and sings an ugly song to her. He finally tries to entertain her and it works. And suddenly she's beautiful.

When the New Baby Comes, I'm Moving Out. Kid who is old enough to play frisbee and soccer gets mad because mom is "giving" all of his old things (high chair, crib, swing) to the new baby. He creatively, and quickly, comes up with reasons he needs these things. Suddenly he dislikes his mom and says he's going to throw her in the garbage can. To make matters worse, he's not going to feed her. And he's going to take her to the dump and throw ashes on her. Ashes. You heard me right. So then he changes his mind ... he's moving out instead. Mom keeps her cool and says she'll miss him and kid changes his mind yet again and now he's excited about the new baby.

Will You Still Love Me? No big beef with this one, because it's surely a valid question to ask once a child finds out his parents are expecting. I mean, I can remember wondering how I'd have enough love for three when we found out we were expecting twins. But Polo, the polar bear, automatically assumes his parents don't love him anymore before he even knows about the baby because his mom and dad had been "too busy to play with him lately", which I thought was a bizarre conclusion to jump to. But whatever. Perhaps polar bears take longer to procreate than the rest of creation.

______

And for two that I actually like.

Sophie and the New Baby. This one goes through the process of excitement that a baby is coming and the reality of the needs a baby actually has. I thought it was well done for the most part.

Where Did That Baby Come From? This one would belong above the line, except that it's so cleverly written that the kids and I get the giggles every time we read it. Each page starts with "Where did that baby come from?" which I read in a funny voice. And follows with a cute poem about the realities of a baby. For example:

"Where did that baby come from?
And can we take it back?
It wails and squeaks. Its diaper leaks.
It's an insomniac."

Truly funny and rounds itself out nicely with the question, "Why is that baby crying?" And big brother trying to help baby get to sleep. And "Baby, why're you laughing?" With big brother trying to figure out what he did that was so funny. And the conclusion that we all come from the same place, planet Earth, which I thought was cute.

But honestly, thumbs down to the ones above the line. From now on, I'll certainly be thumbing through any new baby books before we head home from the library.