Pecan Pie Baby by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Gia’s mother is pregnant. The new baby will be here by the time the first snow’s on the ground – and all anyone can seem to talk about is the “ding-dang baby”. Gia’s friends keep talking about it, and her aunties too. The leaves fall off the trees and pretty soon, a big box is delivered. Time to put “that baby’s crib together”.
Some days, Gia sits on her “stoop thinking about all the years it had been just me and Mama”, and how much she’ll miss it.
Skillfully captures the ambivalence of an older sibling. Kirkus Review calls it “fresh and wise“: it is. The illustrations are also wonderful.
What Maya loves: When I read this book to my 4 year old (who has had a little brother for 2 1/2 years now), he sat up, and didn’t say a word until the last page. A couple of days later, when he was playing by himself in the kitchen, I heard him muttering about a “ding dang baby”. I chuckled, and it warmed my heart. Because what a beautiful thing, to see the complexity of your emotions reflected back at you in a book.
