Book of the Week

The Baby Tree

by Sophie Blackall

Published by Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin, 2014

32 pages

ISBN: 978-0-399-25718-6

Ages 3-6

A young boy wonders where his family will get the new baby he’s been told will be coming. His neighbor Olive tells him a seed will grow into a baby tree; his teacher says the baby will come from the hospital; Grandpa says a stork will bring the baby; the mailman thinks it has something to do with eggs. Back at home in the evening, he asks his parents, who tell him about the seed from his dad and the egg from his mom, and the baby that will grow inside her until it’s ready to be born, “sometimes at home, but usually at the hospital.” And the little boy realizes almost everyone he talked to was right about part of the answer. “But Grandpa … I’m going to have to tell Grandpa where babies really come from.” A charming, engaging answer to the age-old question “Where do babies come from?” is followed by a single page of additional factual information.  © Cooperative Children's Book Center