What's Inside Your Tummy, Mommy?

Talk about interactive: first-time author/artist Cocovini has designed this oversize guide so that “if the mommy holds the book up to her belly, you will see what the baby looks like (actual size) inside her every month!” (For Weeks 37 to 40, a womb-shaped gatefold enables readers to visualize how the now upside-down baby “is getting ready for its birthday.”) Undoubtedly anticipating kids' misgivings about a new sibling, this book is warm and nonthreatening to the max, its crayoned and watercolor spot illustrations and hand-drawn timeline lending it a homey, scrapbook/journal feel. The five or so factoids on each page are shaped around easy-to-grasp, domestic concepts, e.g., comparing the baby's size at Month 8 with that of a pumpkin. And without getting pushy, Cocovini also suggests cool ways for readers to shed their bystander status: in Month 6, for example, they can shine a flashlight on the pregnant tummy and, perhaps, watch the baby turn toward the light. This book may not entirely defuse nascent sibling rivalry, but its inviting, demystifying approach gives it all the earmarks of a Mommy's-expecting must-have. Ages 2-8. (Apr.)