Born
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A lyrical, beautifully illustrated poem about a baby’s birth.
In this lyrical poem, author John Sobol brings us his imagined vision of a universal experience, that of being born. As she is born, the baby in this story goes through a time of intense movement and change before she takes her first breath and cries. Warm hands wrap her in a blanket, and she is held in loving arms. She has arrived!
Sobol captures the mystery and wonder of the birth experience in this deeply sympathetic tale. Reading this book together will enable children and their parents to celebrate the joy and emotional power of that remarkable moment.
Cindy Derby’s soft, gentle illustrations beautifully complement the poem.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this meditative ode to childbirth by Sobol (Friend or Foe?), a fetus is on the verge of being born, "floating cozily in her mother's womb," the "thump-thump of her mother's heartbeat keep her company, always." Flush with oceanic metaphors, watercolor and digital collage spreads by Derby (Outside In) evoke a dreamily surreal womb-scape: fish, whales, and a ship all float alongside the developing fetus. The quarters are tight but mostly comfortable ("a deep calm, safe at/ home"), and in one spread, the womb is reimagined as a seedpod, the fetus snugly curled within it ("a small sprouting seed"). Everything changes as birth begins "strong currents lift her up/ and away" and suddenly, the newborn babe is in the world, with its "new noises," "cool air," and "warm hands." The illustrations capture the tender delicacy of an infant's first moments as the baby takes her first breath and rests on her mother's chest, a gentleness echoed in whispers, "scruffy softness," and "fuzzy shapes." The book's lack of informational context doesn't speak to the realities of birth, but it provides an interesting thought experiment that may interest younger readers: imagining what being born feels like. Ages 3 7.
