Scarlet PaolicchiWelcome to the Family!: A Celebratory Journal for a New Big Sister or Brother

We adopted our first daughter and now I am pregnant with our second daughter. I had a hard time finding a book that didn’t mention anything for the older child about being in mom’s belly. She knows she is adopted and I wanted this book to be something special for her, not make her feel different from her sister. This book is just what I needed! It would also work for families that were created different ways- surrogate, new baby adopted, different parents, etc. It also has a few diverse illustrations throughout of children and families, like the cover.The only things to keep in mind is that it seems best for when expecting a second child to join the family. It does not mention other siblings and seems like it would be confusing to try to do with more than one older sibling. It also says when the new baby arrives in the first section so if adopting an older child, it might not be the best choice as it says baby a lot.

I wish I bought the hardcover version of this book. I love the content but the cover really isn’t sturdy. I like that there are multiple lines so it can be used if you have one child or multiple children. We had fun talking about what they’d do with the baby. My oldest is 14 and my younger two are 7 and 8. They had some fun giving silly answers that they didn’t want me to write down. It gave us an opportunity to get away from electronics and just have family talks.

It is a very cute nice book for a child with a new family member . Quality of book is great.

I love this journal! I am an English teacher and bought it for a colleague who used to be one of my students and now teaches with me. She has a 3-year-old and is having her second daughter. Love the journal and the sharing it promotes with the family; however, it arrived bent and distorted. Now I’m embarrassed to give it to her in this condition. It was sent in a yellow envelope that wasn’t padded and, as a result, was shoved in my mailbox, bent on the spine, and is now rippled and oddly shaped. So disappointed!!

Great conversation starters especially for our daughter after being an only child for 8 years. She loves this book. Wish it had more pages in prep of the baby.

Very easy to read and understand with great pictures. Has helped my niece become a big sister tremendously.

Great ideas in the book to fill out

A good journal to get before the new baby comes home.