What a Good Big Brother! (Picture Book) - Hardcover

Diane Wright Landolf is a writer and editor of children’s books. She is the author of Hog and Dog, Sammy’s Bumpy Ride, and Hooray for Halloween. She has a younger sister and many nieces and nephews, but was never very good at getting any of them to stop crying. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, Matt, and son, Owen, who she hopes will be an excellent big brother someday.

Husband and wife team, Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher have collaborated on more than 20 picture books, including the New York Times bestselling My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss, New York’s Bravest by Mary Pope Osborne, and The Boy on Fairfield Street. Most recently they illustrated Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou. Steve and Lou live in Moraga, California, with their son, Nicholas. Visit their Web site at www.johnsonandfancher.com

Every time Cameron's infant sister cries, his parents seem to have an answer: she's wet, she's hungry, she's tired. And once Cameron knows the problem, he's eager to help out. But Cameron really earns his stripes—and Sadie's first smile—when he's able to soothe a mysterious crying jag after his parents have run out of ideas. Landolf's (Hog and Dog) simple, descriptive writing should go a long way in alleviating—at least momentarily—the anxieties of newly minted sibling rivalry. Johnson and Fancher (Amazing Peace) offer a stunning visual counterpoint with their most luxuriant work to date. It's not entirely successful; the highly wrought backgrounds, created from intricately layered patterns, words and tiny drawings, add little emotional depth. But the team's framing and characterizations are faultless, and their use of life-size-and-larger scale is riveting. If readers aren't distracted by what amounts to weird wallpaper, they'll feel immersed in the intimacy, stress and rewards of tending a newborn. Ages 3–6. (Jan.)
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