My Brother, Will

Robins adds another volume to the vast library of books designed to help older siblings adjust to the arrival of a new baby. Unlike many such books, this one follows the baby from his first days through his first stepsa process that older siblings need to understand. The narrator, a boy named Kit, expresses the usual ambivalent, ultimately positive feelings about his younger brother. The suspense builds, as readers wonder just what will make Will walk. Then on the last page, Will suddenly seems to have been walking for a while already. The cognitive leap in logic is one some childrenand adultsmay not be able to make on first reading, which weakens the ending. Hafner's illustrations are sweet and pleasantly crowded with homespun details. (4-8)