There's a House Inside My Mommy - Hardcover

Andreae, Giles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807578533 ISBN 13: 9780807578537

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co, 2002

Synopsis

As Mommy explains to her young child about the arrival of the new baby, he delights in taking part in conversations with his new sibling through the "tummy telephone" and watching the baby house in Mommy's tummy grow with each passing day.

About this title

About the Author:

Giles Andreae (Author) Giles Andreae is the author of many top selling, award-winning picture books. These include Rumble in the Jungle, Commotion in the Ocean and I Love My Mummy. However, it is for the international bestseller Giraffes Can't Dance that he is best known. Giles is also the creator of Purple Ronnie, Britain's favourite stickman, and of the artist/philosopher, Edward Monkton. These two ranges of greetings cards, books and merchandise have made Giles the country's top-selling living poet. Giles lives with his wife, Victoria, a children's clothes designer, and their four young children by the river in Oxfordshire. Vanessa Cabban (Illustrator) Vanessa Cabban in an award winning artist, who has illustrated numerous books for Orchard, including the bestselling Love is a Handful of Honey and There's a House inside my Mummy, both written by Giles Andreae.

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Using a simple rhyming structure, a young boy describes the changes in his pregnant mother by imagining that within her big belly there is a house where the new baby stays. This belief helps him to understand why her tummy gets bigger and why she eats crazy things, and gives him empathy for her need to rest or for her times of feeling sick-"-if I had a house in me I'd feel all yucky too." There is nothing technical here, no pictures of the baby's growth or use of scientific terms. Rather, the book is told in toddler speak-the baby sleeps in a sort of giant bathtub and he can't come out yet because the door is still shut tight. While this approach is effective, when reading the book out loud the singular view created does wear thin-not all pages are equally clever. Plus, the final page, when the baby has arrived so "There's no one in her tummy now," seems abrupt. It's a concrete conclusion and appropriate for the target age, and yet unexpected due to a lack of buildup. The positive outlook of the enthusiastic, innocent narrator is reinforced by the sunny, pleasant illustrations. The full-color art is reminiscent of the work of Helen Oxenbury, with sweet open-faced characters and a soothing use of muted primary colors, with a predominance of mustard yellow. Overall, this is a soothing book with a unique perspective, but it's not essential.
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0807578533
• ISBN 13: 9780807578537
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Cabban Vanessa