On a humorous note, Too Big by Holly Keller (William Morrow, 1983) showed the potential jealousy that a new baby might bring for an older child. Young possum Henry finds that he is no longer the center of attention when his little brother Jake is brought home from the hospital. He wants to have a bottle too! He wants to have his diaper changed too! But each time he tries to take his turn, he is reminded that he is “too big.”
After a funny ploy for attention, Henry finds that there are bonuses to being big: there are things he can do because he is big! My son and I enjoyed brainstorming the things that he’s now too big for and the things a newborn baby will be too little for. Although it’s still a while before baby Monkey joins our family, I’m hoping that we can keep it an exciting time and not a time for jealousy.
