How You Came to Be
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
This love letter written from mother to child invites readers to experience a baby's month-by-month development in the womb as compared to familiar fruits and vegetables.
A mother lovingly describes the sizes and stages of her baby's month-by-month development inside the womb, and the amazement of experiencing it from the outside.
Look at you - as big as a banana!
Some of your cells formed into bones,
and your arms and legs grew longer.
I could feel you kick!
Sometimes when I rubbed my belly,
I felt you thump back.
Was that your way of saying hello?
Simple, age-appropriate facts are woven into a tender and lyrical text that celebrates the miracle of a baby. It demystifies and informs readers, while simultaneously appreciating the wonder of it all. A perfect read-aloud for mother and child, or for children whose mothers are pregnant with a younger sibling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Starting from the moment "a wiggly little cell from another/ joined with a round little cell from me," and written from the intimate perspective of a gestational parent speaking to their fetus, this fact-filled, lyrical book takes young readers month by month through the stages of prenatal development. Gerber leans on comparisons of gestational age to fruits and veggies; at first "lighter than a raindrop,/ softer than a feather," the embryo soon grows "as big as a pea" in month one, then a kidney bean, lime, and so on until month nine sees the fetus, "big as a melon—/ finally, you were large enough/ and strong enough/ to come out into the world." Chalabi's bold digital renderings stand out against black backdrops; paired with large, shapely graphics of produce such as pineapple and butternut squash are miniatures of faceless parents-to-be with varying skin tones and growing bellies. A loving and encouraging intro to birth for kids. Back matter includes a glossary, facts about gestation and birth, and a selected bibliography. Ages 2–4.
