Henkes, Kevin. Julius the Baby of the World. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1990. 32 pages. ISBN 0-688-08943-7.
Lily is excited - she1s going to be a big sister! Every day she sings to the baby growing inside her mommy1s tummy. She likes to read stories to it too. Her parents are pleased; Lily is their princess. But when the baby is born, Lily is disappointed. The baby boy, named Julius, cries and fusses and takes up all of her parents1 time. They say Julius is 3the baby of the world.2 Lily hates Julius; she wishes he would go away. she doesn1t sing or read to him anymore. She won1t let him play with her toys either. Lily complains to her parents but they just smile and say Julius is 3the baby of the world.2 Lily is fed up. Then one day her parents have a party to introduce Julius to the rest of the family. Lily disapproves of the gathering, choosing to walk around in her princess costume and avoiding Julius. That is, until she hears her cousin making fun of Julius, saying all the same awful things Lily says about him. Lily becomes furious. How dare anyone say anything bad about her baby brother! Lily berates her cousin, making her apologize to Julius. Lily even makes her call him 3the baby of the world.2
This book has lots of repeated words and phrases which is good for building vocabulary and fosters language awareness. The illustrations are well drawn and support the text. The story is an excellent example of how even though siblings may pick on each other they gang up when an 3outsider2 attacks one of them. Any first-borns or elders will empathize with Lily1s feelings of displacement and abandonment.
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