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Julius, the Baby of the World ( HarperCollins )
Release Date: 1995-09-21
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $6.99
Price: $6.99
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Product Description
The riotously funny Lilly, last seen in Chester's Way (Greenwillow), thinks her new baby brother, Julius, is disgusting--if he was a number, he would be zero. But when Cousin Garland dares to criticize Julius, Lilly bullies her into loudly admiring Julius as the baby of the world.Lilly knows her baby brother is nothing but dreadful--until she claims him for her own. "Henkes displays a deep understanding of sibling rivalry and a child's fragile self-esteem....Lilly is a superb and timely heroine."--Publishers Weekly. "
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Amazon.com Review
For children who are facing the arrival of a new sibling, Julius, the Baby of the World makes for great biblio-therapy. At first, big sister Lilly thought it might be fun to have a new baby in the family. But when her parents repeatedly coo, "Julius is the baby of world," Lilly's mouse hackles begin to rise. Soon the jealousy is too much for her, and she embarks on a rejection campaign that is hysterically funny, but also comforting for siblings who probably feel just as much resentment but would never go to Lilly's extremes. Kevin Henkes, creator of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse refuses to shy away from the truly powerful and sometimes dark feelings of children. Through bright watercolors and handwritten, cartoon-style dialogue, Henkes relishes Lilly's wickedness. For example, she delights in insulting her oblivious baby brother: "If you were a food, you'd be a raisin," she whispers into his crib. "If you were a number you'd be zero." When she paints an elaborate family portrait, she leaves Julius out. When she throws a tea party, guess which baby doesn't get an invitation? But when a visiting cousin starts insulting baby Julius, we discover that the flip side of Lilly's intense jealousy is an even more powerful and lasting loyalty. ALA Notable Book, ALA Booklist Children's Editors' Choice, Horn Book Fanfare Honor List, Parent's Choice Honor for Literature. (Baby to Preschool) --Gail Hudson
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 I love Henkes other books but this one really is aweful ( cmfsmile )
After reading and falling in love with Henkes' other books (Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Chrysanthemum, etc.) I expected to love this one as well. The other negative reviewers aren't being overly-sensitive. This book is AWEFUL. The things the older sister whispers into her little brother's crib are downright horrifying. This book goes beyond simply showing the reality of childhood cruelty into the realm of normalizing sick and disturbed hatred. I started reading this book to the 4 year old boy that I nanny for and had to stop in the middle of it. He has two older sisters and the thought that he would assume this is what his sisters thought about him when he was born breaks my heart. Do your family a favor and do not buy this book, spend your time reading his other fabulous books instead.
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 Great for siblings-to-be
Loved this book. Lilly isn't happy having a new baby in the house until a cousin dares to say the negatives that Lilly was feeling. She quickly jumps to her brother's rescue. Cute and kid friendly, great for age 3 or 4 up to second or third grade.
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Awesome book - fabulous gift! ( eoshaun )
This book is the perfect gift for a child that has a new baby at his or her house! The story line describes the excitement surrounding the soon-to-be birth of a baby. THEN the inconvenience, jealousy, and frustration felt after the baby actually arrives.
I've given this book to several "big brothers" and "big sisters" when I've sent a baby gift.
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Awful! Awful! Awful!
This is the first time I've ever written a review about anything but I found it necessary to warn parents about this book.
I cannot believe I allowed this book into our home collection (it was a gift, by the way) and after reading it way to many times, against my better judgement, I threw it away! I could have donated it, sold it at a garage sale but why let other kids listen to this junk.
As the previous reviewers state, Lily is a total brat, her language is awful, and the meaning of this book is ridiculous. Thanks to Mr. Henke, my children now love to say words like disgusting, hate, ugly, etc. I'm sorry but I'd rather not allow my kids to speak that way. Yes, they do it to be funny but I don't talk that way and I'd rather they not either. Fortunately, unlike Lily, they are not saying these things about their new baby sister nor are they trying to scare, pinch, etc. her. But they are 4.5 and 2.5, way to impressionable. It just blows my mind that there are so many good reviews of this book and I can't believe anyone would want to write a book like this for children. Why would you want to introduce these words and ideas to kids? I understand that not every child is going to welcome a new baby into their family the way we would like and that kids probably do and say things like Lily but why encourage it?
I just wish I would have thrown it out sooner.
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Awful
This book was given to my two-year-old while I was 8 months pregnant with my second child. After I read through it once, it quickly ended up at the Goodwill.
Lily's behavior is supposed to be interpreted as funny, but it is downright awful. She says things like, "I hate you. You're ugly." We all know that toddlers are parrots, so why in the world would anybody want to introduce this kind of behavior to them?
We have a few other books by Kevin Henkes that we really enjoy, so I was extremely disappointed that this book was such a bummer. We love Usborne's "The New Baby" if you're looking for a book that will appropriately prepare your toddler for a new sibling.
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