Shelf Awareness--Born

PB Review: Born

Born by John Sobol, illus. by Cindy Derby (Groundwood Books, 24p., ages 3-7, 9781773061696)

Brimming with love, Born is a tender, impressionistic peek at a baby's final days "floating cozily in her mother's womb" that ends with her much anticipated arrival into the world.

Before birth, the "thump-thump of her mother's heartbeat keeps her company, always." Pushing with her foot, she can feel "the edge of her world." And, curled up in this space, she hears "the sweetest sound she knows. A sound filled with love." Sometimes this baby sleeps, sometimes she's restless, but mostly she's calm and safe inside her "beautiful world." Until something different happens. "Strong currents lift her up and away" and "she isn't floating anymore." Suddenly, she can breathe, cry and see "fuzzy shapes and shifting shadows." That sweet sound, the one "she loves most of all?" She hears it in her mother's welcoming voice: "Hello, sweetheart." There is eye contact and the new baby "knows she is where she needs to be."

Suffused with warmth and joy, John Sobol's poetic homage to the late stages of pregnancy and childbirth focuses on the feelings and sensations that accompany this profound event. His eloquent words are paired with Cindy Derby's watercolor and digital collage paintings, which feature a beautifully rendered infant accompanied by traces of whimsy, such as in utero flamingos and tiny boats. These fantastical elements extend the scope of the book and turn it into a celebration of possibility. Born, which highlights that all-important first connection between mother and child, will likely be shared with fascinated young readers time and time again. --Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI.

Discover: This impressionistic homage to childbirth takes readers through a baby's final days in the womb and follows her emergence into the world as a much-loved newborn.