What’s in There?: All About Before You Were Born (Let’s Talk about You and Me)


From School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1–Nellie and Gus and their parents are expecting a new baby. In simple and clear language, Harris describes the pregnancy. With the family’s daily routine as the backdrop, she explains that babies start out as only some cells about the size of a pencil dot, continue to grow right through nine months, and are after all ready to be born when they’re around the size of a watermelon. Correct names for male and female anatomy are used right through. The illustrations depict the passing seasons as the baby begins to grow and develop in utero. Westcott’s illustrations are digitally produced, and a cut-away view of Mom’s abdomen shows the baby’s general growth all over the interim. The text explains the changes the baby goes through; soon it can hear, grow hair, suck its thumb, etc. Before long, the big day comes and Gus and Nellie welcome their new brother. This book is suitable for young children who are just beginning to ask the question, “Where do babies come from?” Inquiring minds wishing for more information regarding conception and fertilization will need to look at the myriad other books on reproduction. On the other hand, What’s in There? is a good first book to recommend to parents.–Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CAα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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From Booklist

The latest addition to the Let’s Talk about You and Me series follows a brother, a sister, and their parents through the mother’s pregnancy. The kids ask questions and make comments in speech balloons, at the same time as the main text provides basic information about the development of the baby in the mother’s uterus. Correct terminology is used for body parts, but there’s nothing clinical about the down-to-earth writing, which takes into consideration what young children might be curious about and how to keep the information within their frame of reference. This works well for the most part, though the observation that before birth “the growing baby is about the size of a watermelon” is imprecise at best. Creating a cheerful, easygoing tone on every double-page spread, the digital line-and-wash illustrations portray a biracial family within a diverse community. A helpful book for presenting information and opening discussions with young children who are curious about pregnancy and birth. Preschool-Grade 1. –Carolyn Phelan

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See all Editorial Reviews
Continuing her series for preschoolers, New York Times best-selling writer Robie H. Harris follows the stages of pregnancy and childbirth in a matter-of-fact and comfortable way.Gus and Nellie have some exciting news: there’s going to be a baby in their family! Sign up for them through the seasons as they watch their mother’s pregnancy with fascination and curiosity at the same time as awaiting the birth of their new baby sibling. Combining accessible, humorous, and accurate illustrations; conversations between the two siblings; and a factual text, here is the ideal book to help young children needless to say the way a growing baby develops inside a woman’s body, and how a baby is born, are both perfectly normal and totally wonderful.
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