April 10th is National Sibling Day so I thought this month it would only be fitting to share books celebrating siblings! Of course, spring is also the time of new life and since my writing critique partner’s goat gave birth to the sweetest little kids, I couldn’t resist throwing in a few books about babies! Here are our picks for the month of April!

Hoot and Peep

by Lita Judge

The cover of this book is so sweet and beautiful that it pulls you right in. In this tale of two owls, older brother Hoot wants to impart his owly wisdom to younger sister Peep. That wisdom consists of the fact that owls say, “Hooo!” and only “Hooo!” for everything. But Peep sees the world differently. She believes in singing about the mystery of things — ‘Schweepity peep ding dong bong!” — and her songs express that. The enchanting illustrations in blue and yellow hues capture the beauty of a the perfect owly night and the poetic text makes this sibling story soar.

The Monstore

by Tara Lazar

One of the ways a book makes it onto this list is by getting repeatedly requested for readings by my son – and this book definitely fits that criteria! I’ve previously mentioned my son’s love for all things monster and when we’re not reading the book, he makes me go through and pick out my favorite monster on every page.

Zack gets a monster in the hopes of keeping his little sister, Gracie, out of his room – only to find that the monster, Manfred, befriends Gracie and teaches her new ways of annoying him. He tries to return his defective monster only to be sold more monsters — each of which yield the same result! Zack is at his wit’s end until something super-spooky stops Gracie and the monsters in their tracks! You’ll have to read the book to find out what the terrifying thing is – and that is by far, my favorite part of the book – so I hope you will check it out!

Welcome: A Mo Willems Guide for New Arrivals

While the title would make you think this book is for babies, other than the mirrors at the beginning and ending of the book, it didn’t strike me as all that baby-friendly. Nevertheless, I absolutely LOVE it. If you’re a parent (old or new), it’s sure to touch your heart and tickle your funny bone as it prepares little ones for the good and not-so-good stuff that awaits them intheir lives as humans. (I especially love the hysterical spread about Log-In Codes. Wouldn’t it be nice to go back to a time before you needed any of those? )

While my one year old didn’t have the patience for a read-through of it, my four year old did — and I especially appreciated how the book highlights the fact that the child-parent relationship isn’t one-sided. Our kids teach us valuable lessons if we’re willing to pay attention and learn from them. I also love the way that the special bond formed through reading together is reinforced through the book’s refrain – “. . .while we read this book together.”

King Baby 

by Kate Beaton

What’s not to love about a King Baby?  After all, if you’ve ever shared your home with a baby you know it’s the truth — we are all simply the underlings who must fulfill King Baby’s every command (or else listen to incessant screaming!) In Beaton’s signature humorous style, she shows the baby king, complete with tiny crown, on his journey toward becoming a big boy — from crawling to mastering the tricycle. But once he’s arrived at big boy status, he discovers a new challenge awaits him and his growing family.