The New Baby

Explains the needs of toddlers faced with a new baby in the family and some of the changes and disruptions the baby can cause in the life of the older brother or sister.

For a firstborn child, the arrival of a baby brother or sister is almost sure to arouse mixed feelings. Aloing with all the excitement, suddenly someone else is sharing the attention and love that the firstborn used to have all along. "In his direct and understanding approch, Fred Rogers gets right to the heart of a potential situation, letting children know they're not alone in their feelings."--American Bookseller. Full color.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1 Excellent color photographs of multiracial children illustrate these concept books, which update material originally presented in Mister Rogers Talks About (Platt & Munk, 1974; o.p.). Although there are numerous books about starting school, Going to Day Care is one of the few titles which deals with day care. The text discusses both family day care and day-care centers and deals with activities that concern children, such as eating, sleeping and going to the bathroom. The second title serves as a starting point for parent and child discussions about The New Baby. Although the text deals with feelings of jealousy and envy, they are not the major focus, as they are in Martha Alexander's Nobody Asked Me If I Wanted a Baby Sister (Dial, 1971). The positive and negative aspects of a new baby in the house are presented in a manner easily understood by preschoolers, and are further clarified by the liberal use of color photographs. Questions are included as discussion starters, in a manner similar to the way Mister Rogers speaks on his television program. Two very fine titles about children's first experiences. Nancy Doe Maday, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs

Producer, magician, writer, puppeteer, minister, husband, father, Fred Rogers started out in children's television thirty years ago. The direction he trailblazed was the "creation of television programming that spoke, with respect, to the concerns of early childhood, not as adults see it but as children feel it."

He has received virtually every major award in the television industry for work in his field, and dozens of others from special-interest groups.

Fred Rogers lives in Pennsylvania.