Waiting For Baby
Illustrated by Loreen Leedy

The little boy is sure that the new baby will be a wonderful playmate. She'll be big enough to run in the yard, swing on the swings, ride bicycles and share toys. They'll be able to do so many things together. Never mind that when the baby finally arrives, it's very different from what the little boy imagined.

Soon you'll be here, Baby,
together with me
I'm waiting, waiting,
waiting for you.
We'll play together,
hide-and-seek in the closet.
We'll build a city of blocks

Tom Birdseye's gentle, lyrical text and loreen Leedy's luminous drawings capture what waiting for a baby is like for a big brother or sister.

"tender portrait . . . delightful illustrations . . . good choice for sharing aloud" - School Library Journal "

beautifully executed, reassuring read for expectant families" - Booklist

Out of print, but look for it at your local library.

In 1989, when my wife and I were expecting our second baby, our first child, Kelsey, kept coming up to us and saying things like, "When she's born, I'll teach her how to pick ripe strawberries!"

We wanted to know how she knew the baby was going to be a girl. She shrugged and said, "Just is."

She then went on to tell us how they would play together, and read books, and build forts, and play fetch with our dog, Maggie, and ride bikes in the driveway, and on and on. All of this talk reminded me of when I was a kid waiting for my brother to be born, and imagining all the things we would do together when he finally came into the world. Some things never change, I guess, especially the excitement of waiting for a new family member. So I decided to write about it. That's how WAITING FOR BABY was conceived.

Hello, Baby. It's light where I am. The wind is rustling the leaves, then gliding through the window, and brownies are fresh out of the oven. Soon you'll be here, Baby, together with me. I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for you.

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