From Publishers Weekly
Shed's (The Butterfly House) intimate, soft-focus oil portraits add a nostalgic quality to this sweet story of a grandmother recollecting the arrival of her grandchild. "Even before you were born, I was your grandma and I loved you," muses the narrator as if addressing the child directly. She then goes on to enumerate all the wonders of babyhood ("I imagined your soft sighs and sweet smells/ and your tiny toes lined up/ like pink pearls on a necklace") and times shared ("I imagined holding you close,/ rocking you,/ watching you make faces as you dreamed"). Her imaginings span a full year, through baby's first Christmas and birthday ("I saw you eating birthday cake, pink and yellow frosting finger painted across your face") and culminate with the infant's actual birth. Debut children's author Bowen captures the eagerness and anticipation attendant upon the birth of a new family member, and her poetic descriptions ("hands spread out, like little starfish"; "ribbons of autumn sunlight weaving through your hair") brim with sentimental tenderness. Shed's realistic portraits evoke the feeling of a family photo album, including close-ups of the fetching baby and various beaming family members. Just right for sharing on Grandma's lap. All ages.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
“Just right for sharing on Grandma’s lap.” (Publishers Weekly)
A loving grandmother eagerly awaits the arrival of her grandchild. She dreams of the baby's soft sighs, sweet smells, and tiny toes, and imagines the infant smiling, rolling over, and crawling for the first time.
Finally, the baby arrives and Grandma is ready with a very special message: Even before you were born, I was your grandma and I loved you.
With soft but realistic watercolor illustrations and sentimental and lyrical text, I Loved You Before You Were Born perfectly captures a grandmother’s feelings as she anticipates the birth of her grandchild.
A perfect gift for baby showers and for Grandparents Day!
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-This gentle story celebrates the love of a grandmother for her new grandchild. The opening refrain, "Even before you were born," is repeated throughout the text, coupled with "I loved-," "I wondered-," "I imagined-." The sense of waiting and anticipation is almost tangible, and many of these hoped-for events (smiling at daddy, rolling over, sharing a book) come to fruition in the illustrations. Shed's full-page images are set opposite warm, pastel text pages. The realistic yet soft-edged paintings convey the loving intimacy of family, and perfectly complement the joyful text, which is sweet without being saccharine. A perfect gift for a grandchild and lovely for sharing one-on-one.
Robin L. Gibson, Perry County District Library, New Lexington, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 3-5. A grandmother talks to her newborn grandchild, recalling her thoughts while she waited for the baby's birth, imagining the baby's "soft sighs and sweet smells" and first smile. As she makes a flannel blanket, she wonders if her grandchild will carry it everywhere as the baby's father had carried his. She thinks about reading to the baby, singing lullabies, and celebrating birthdays. Finally, Baby arrives, and grandma's anticipation culminates in the final refrain, "I loved you even before you were born." This is a sweet one-on-one book for grandmothers and young grandchildren to share. The handsome art, thick paint on textured paper, radiates warmth and love in uncluttered, true-to-life reflections of a new baby welcomed into a loving home. Ellen Mandel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
From the Inside Flap
Even before you were born,
I was your grandma
and I loved you.
A loving grandmother eagerly awaits the arrival of her grandchild. She dreams of the baby's soft sighs, sweet smells, and tiny toes, and imagines the infant smiling, rolling over, and
