Hey Little Sister / Karin Cox

Reviewed by: BigAl with input from The Princess

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Approximate word count: Fourteen pages with both text and illustrations (excluding cover, front matter, and back matter)

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Karin Cox is an Australian editor, poet, and author and, like many women, is doing her best to be a modern Wonder Woman. Trained as a professional editor, and with more than fifteen years in the trade publishing industry under her belt, she edits and writes in her ‘spare time’ while being a fulltime mum to her infant daughter and to a black cat with the improbable name of ‘Ping Pong.’

Since her first book was published in 2003, Karin has written more than 28 natural history books, biographies, Australian social history books, children's picture storybooks, and travel guides. In 2010, her books Amazing Facts about Australian Wildlife Conservation and Amazing Facts about Australia's Early Settlers were listed as notable books on the Children's Book Council of Australia 2010 Notable Books list. In 2010, Karin also won two Whitley Awards for natural history writing in the Popular Zoology and Wildlife Conservation categories.”

For more, visit the author’s blog.

Description:

“Zac is very excited to be getting a new little sister. But how will she arrive exactly? And will he like her after all?

Designed for parents to help initiate conversation about pregnancy, birth, and the arrival of a new sibling, this engaging, beautifully illustrated picture book by Australian author Karin Cox raises some likely questions from young children while still allowing parents to decide how to explain a new arrival in their own terms. Follow Zac and his family as they prepare for a little bundle of joy to arrive.”

Appraisal:

When my nine year-old granddaughter (“The Princess”) was visiting and wanted something to read, I downloaded Hey Little Sister to my Kindle Fire and suggested she read it to her four year-old sister. Then I quizzed her on how it had gone.

Although a short book (in adult terms), I thought it was a good indication that her younger sister actually sat still for the full book. When asked, The Princess liked the story, liked all the illustrations with one exception (she wasn’t too keen on one involving an accident the Mother in the story had), and was quick to give it a letter grade of “B” on an A, B, C, D, F grading scale.

Although The Princess has (obviously) already been through the experience, when I read the book later, I agreed with her, that it was a good story, and well suited to its purpose of initiating conversation with a younger child who has a new sibling on the way.

Because the illustrations are in color, this is ideal for a Kindle Fire or other tablet computer with a Kindle app; however, when viewed on my Kindle keyboard, the illustrations still looked good, even though in grayscale, and the text was easy to read.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars