Back Catalog Posts: Lola Reads to Leo by Anna McQuinn

Image source: Amazon.com

Review by Mary K.

Lola Reads to Leo by Anna McQuinn and Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw (2012)

Lola loves to read (check out her earlier books Lola Loves Stories and Lola at the Library). So when she learns she is to have a new baby brother, naturally she wants to share her books with the boy. When Leo arrives, Lola helps out by reading to him: duck stories while he’s in the bath; potty stories while he’s having his diaper changed. She does other things too - helping with laundry and dishes while Leo is sleeping - but the family always ends their day with a story. The illustrations are colorful and large and Lola is depicted as a happy child who wants to help. This story of book love (and how books are great for sharing as a family) is perfect for toddler or preschool storytimes.

Themes/topics: family, new baby, siblings, reading, books

Sample text from two spreads:

“Leo cries a lot. Lola wants to cheer him up, so she tells him a story.

It turns out he is just hungry. Lola holds her best bear story while Mommy feeds him. She and Mommy read it together"

I’m Big Now by Anthea Simmons and Georgie Birkett

I’m Big Now by Anthea Simmons and Georgie Birkett (2017)

It’s always refreshing to find a new sibling book that is positive, and this one does a great job of honoring the feelings of the older sister, while still framing things in a positive helpful manner. To deal with her feelings of jealousy and displacement, she pretends to be a baby. In each case, a loving family member affirms her feelings and reminds her that she’s a big girl now in rhyming text.

Themes/topics: siblings, new baby, growing up, pretending

Sample text from two spreads:

The baby’s got his mushy food, he gets it in his hair. But I’ve got crunchy cereal and I sit on a chair.

“Would you like breakfast all mashed up?” Mummy teases me.

“No!” I can eat my big girl food with big girl teeth you see.

The baby’s on the changing mat and he’s not very happy.

I’m up on my potty. I don’t have to wear a nappy.

“This was you, once,” Daddy says.

“You hated diapers, too.”

“I’m a big girl, now,” I say. “I do what big girls do.”