Book Nook: His Royal Highness, King Baby

When a family prepares for a second (or later) child, sometimes it can be a challenge to prepare kids for a new arrival - especially the youngest of the children, who hasn't experienced a new baby before. Books can be a great way to communicate to kids what the changes will be, especially if they're books that are up front about potential conflicts and resolutions.

I recently had a chance to review  His Royal Highness, King Baby written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by David Roberts. In this book, the new baby is viewed as royalty, with the rest of the family as subjects who snap to his every whim - food, playtime, noise, everything is directed by King Baby. He even consumes conversation with adults talking about his every move. This "terrible true story" is something that plays out again and again in houses all over the world as new babies arrive and take up much of the parents' attention.

This book does a good job of capturing the experience of an only child who is used to ruling the roost, until someone new comes in. The illustrations are whimsical and childish, and the text is perfectly appropriate. It makes a great addition to the line-up of books about welcoming a new child to the family.