The baby tree by Sophie Blackall, a wonderful book for helping to explain the number 1 dreaded question – where do babies come from!?
I discovered this book on the wonderful Cool Mom Picks website – it is such a cool site and those ladies really find some awesome things, but this book has to be one of my favourites!
When I was pregnant with Toby, Reuben was too young to ask any questions but my friends children weren’t, and he will no doubt be breaking out the questions all too soon himself. It’s not that I’m a prude – the opposite in fact – but I have a very literal and practical approach in my parenting, I don’t lie to him (other than the occasional white lie so that I can have 5 minutes to myself…) and I try really hard not to sugar coat things when he asks me the tough questions (We’ve already had ‘Why isn’t Grandad here anymore?’, ‘What does it mean that he’s looking down on us from a better place?’ and the ever pleasant ‘Will I die Mummy?’… try answering that bad boy without a glass of vino at hand!)
The babysitter explains that baby’s come from the baby tree…
The mail man says babies come from eggs…
This is one of the things that my husband and I different on – he is very much a protector, and would rather not discuss lives tough questions, or he will come up with a suitable ‘lie’ such as the classic ‘Babies are delivered to Mummy and Daddy by the stork’ *cringe*! I hate it, and its something that we always have to discuss with each other when these things crop up because we differ so vastly – this book, however, is the perfect mixture of protective half truths and up-front honesty.
The book centres around a little boy who is going to be welcoming a new brother or sister and his journey through all of the characters in his life as he tries to find out where exactly this baby comes from. It’s hilarious how the book goes from person to person, all who give him little half truths or even flat out fibs (like Grandpa with the stork) about where this baby will be coming from. Eventually, confused and totally out of his depth, he asks Mum and Dad who give him a simple but accurate explanation (so if you missed that part of biology class and you have always wondered how you ended up reading a parenting blog… pay attention!). The whole book is illustrated and written by the wonderfully talented Sophie Blackall, who is an award winning Australian born artist and illustrator.
The book is written in a way that is so thoughtful, clear and concise, but wonderfully touching and ideal for helping parents to explain those difficult questions (don’t most dread explaining where babies come from?) in a way that is ideal for a child aged 4-8 years old!
You can buy the book on amazon here or in most good book stores!
Harriet x
