 WAITING FOR BABY JOE by Pat Lowery Collins Photos by Joan Whinham Dunn, published by Albert Whitman & Co. ISBN 0-8075-8625-0  Outside the neo-natal nursery It was daylight when the telephone rang. Missy climbed out of bed and ran to the phone. It was Daddy. "You have a baby brother," he said. "What's his name?" asked Missy. "Can you bring him right home?" "His name is Joseph, but we'll call him Joe. I can't bring him home yet because he's so small." "He was a big lump in Mommy," Missy said. Gramma took the phone. "Is everything all right?" She was silent for a long time. Then she shouted, "Three pounds, two ounces!" "Why did you yell like that?" Missy asked Gramma when she put the phone down. "Because that's a real little baby!" she explained. "Why he's only about half the size you were when you were born." |
WAITING FOR BABY JOE "When Missy's little brother arrives two months early, weighing just over three pounds, her friend says, 'My mother had a baby that small once. But he got sick and died.' Missy's family is luckier, but there are anxious,lonely weeks while her preoccupied parents spend hours visiting Joe in the hospital. He needs a heart operation: even after he comes home, it's a while before he's ready to begin being the kind of baby Missy expected. With a spare, economical text and winning, insightful b&w photos, Collins and Dunn capture the joys and anxieties of a nice family weathering - with grace and good sense - the normal emotions of their stressful experience." Kirkus  "I was glad I had waited for him." Additional Praise for WAITING FOR BABY JOE From The Children's Bookwatch: "Appealing black and white photos provide an authentic complement to the author's moving text." From Carolina Parent: "This photo-essay realistically depicts the evolution of Missy's feelings about her brother from his birth until he is ready for visitors. Superior non-fiction for children who have questions about premature birth." From School Library Journal: "The writing is simple and clear, appropriate for a young child while conveying the underlying emotions well. Black-and-white photos add much to the gentle tone of the book." From Horn Book: Realistic text and photographs chronicle the effect of Baby Joe's premature birth on young Missy and her family. Missy feels no connection to her tiny baby brother until the day he smiles at her, and she announces that he is finally ready for a big sister.'An altogether satisfying production. -- Copyright © 1991 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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