Horn Book

Initially, the young narrator doesn't like her new baby brother: she's forced to "whisper while playing Zombie Attack," etc. Would modern parents really not prepare their child for a new baby's arrival? Would this narrator really be surprised when the baby doesn't say "thank you"? Swanson shirks verisimilitude for laughs, which Behr dials up to eleven in her mixed-media art.

Kirkus Reviews

A long-winded, first-person treatise on a well-worn theme is delivered by a new big sister.The premise of the story is familiar: a little girl is less than enthusiastic about the birth of her baby brother; she is then scornful of his inability to do much of anything, and she asks her parents to make him go away. Her frustration, boredom, and jealousy suddenly abate after an outburst: "BABIES RUIN EVERYTHING!" The following page turn reveals a wordless double-page spread divided into four horizontal bars of color. These are illustrated with close-ups of the baby's eyes to the left of the gutter and the sister's to the right. The progression down the spread shows the baby going from tearful to wailing and the sister's expression changing to show increasing guilt. After this point, the sister decides to try to be "a better sister," which involves letting the baby make quite a mess. Mom is none too pleased, and her response forges an alliance of sorts between the children that rounds out the story. Throughout, the naïve, cartoon art style is well-suited to the child's narration, but its busyness can seem cluttered, as surely as the lengthy text needs significant snipping. Both tots are light-skinned, but the protagonist's straight, black hair could indicate she's a child of color.Such a familiar theme needs something to distinguish the book that revisits it, and that something is missing here. (Picture book. 5-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

She-s precocious, has pigtails, and hates her new baby brother. You know the type-she stars in countless stories of sibling displacement. -Why am I the only one who sees the truth? We need a better baby!!- she shouts midway through this version from husband-and-wife duo Swanson and Behr. After countless impositions and indignities-including being deprived of attending a birthday party -with three kinds of ice cream- because the baby drops the keys in the toilet-the girl blows her top, then has a moment of self-awareness (-maybe this baby just needs a better sister-) and turns her nemesis into an ally. Behr captures the mind-set of a willful heroine by giving her mixed-media images, different framings, and lots of visual attitude; the bug-eyed baby looks like it has some Ronald Searle DNA, and the adults appear in silhouettes. The chatty narration has its moments (including a resonant observation that the milk at Grandma-s house -tastes weird-), but the irreverent jokiness starts feeling relentless. Ages 4-7. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, DeFiore and Company. (July)

School Library Journal (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

PreS-Gr 2 This husband and wife author/illustrator team take on the familiar topic of adapting to a new baby in this humorous story. Told from the first-person perspective of a young girl sporting raven-colored pigtails, this book catalogues the many challenges that come with a new sibling. From the moment her dad wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her she is about to be a big sister, the unnamed girl is completely opposed to this intrusion on her life. And things go downhill from there. Her baby brother demands all of her parents' attention and takes over her bedroom. Worst of all, she's expected to be nice to him. The girl finally loses her temper after her brother flushes the car keys, causing her to miss a birthday party. The following spread shows four close-up frames of the baby's face on the left, as he grows increasingly upset. On the right, four frames reflect the girl's increasing guilt at yelling at him. From here, the girl resolves to be a better sister, and the two of them prove to be a formidable team. Kids with younger siblings may identify with the protagonist's feelings. The lengthy text drags at times, but the work's eye-catching illustrations will be a big draw for children. The girl, her baby brother, her pet hamster, and her frenemy, Benny Hogarth, are drawn in a cartoon style with pen and ink on watercolor paper, while the adults and background objects are created digitally. VERDICT Nothing new here, but this is a fun read that can empower big sisters and brothers to make the most of their new family roles. Kimberly Tolson, Medfield Public Library, MA