What Baby Needs discusses the changes that occur with a new addition to the family, how it may affect older siblings, and how to involve them.
The target audience of What Baby Needs are older siblings - ones who are still young and need to be taught what it means to welcome a younger sibling into the family. Through text and illustrations, it discusses what babies need, what the older siblings can do that babies cannot do, and things the older siblings can still do with mom and dad.
The book contains colorful “What About Me” sidebars that explain how older siblings can make friends with the new baby so that they can understand what is going on and how to work through their own feelings about the new baby as well as how to still feel special and loved.
What Baby Needs subscribes to attachment parenting and has bibliographic references and resources in the back of the book. There are also notes for parents and caregivers in the beginning of the book.
Recommended for parents and children alike to read together. I believe What Baby Needs targets the two to five age range for children, but it is also enjoyable for older children (like my cousin who is seven and absolutely fascinated with babies; she found this at a secondhand store and her dad bought it for her). I read the book and then she read it with her dad. The book does contain two instances of breast feeding, illustrated tastefully.
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William Sears, M.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. He trained at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and of the Royal College of Pediatricians. He wife is Martha Sears and they have eight children.
Martha Sears is a registered nurse and former childbirth educator who is active in the La Leche League. She often speaks at national parenting conferences. Her husband is William Sears and they have eight children.
Christie Watts Kelly attended the University of Memphis and graduated with a degree in elementary education. She co-founded the Memphis chapter of Attachment Parenting International and teaches prenatal yoga. She is also a freelance writer and editor.
Renée Andriani has illustrated What Baby Needs, Baby on the Way, Food Fight, Mall Mania, and No Baloney!, among others.
