My Big Brother

by Valorie Fisher, Valorie Fisher (Photographer)

Overview

Meet my big brother.
He's
AMAZING!
STUPENDOUS!
ENORMOUS!
I should know,
I watch him all day long.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689843273
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	07/01/2002
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Valorie Fisher is the author and illustrator of My Big Brother and My Big Sister, both Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award winners; and Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears, called "sassy" in a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Her photographs have been widely exhibited and are in many major museum collections, including the Brooklyn Museum, London's Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Ms. Fisher lives in Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut, with her husband and two children.

Valorie Fisher is the author and illustrator of My Big Brother and My Big Sister, both Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award winners; and Ellsworth's Extraordinary Electric Ears, called "sassy" in a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Her photographs have been widely exhibited and are in many major museum collections, including the Brooklyn Museum, London's Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Ms. Fisher lives in Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut, with her husband and two children.

Editorial Reviews

An accomplished photographer with work in major museums in New York, London and Paris, Fisher creates a tongue-in-cheek volume from a baby's eye view in this captivating debut. The opening spread, for example, shows big brother from the knees down; his black sneakers, wrinkled red socks and blue Band-Aid dominate an image framed in a white border. On the left, toddler-friendly type declares: "This is my big brother." The brother looms large in the next spread, sporting a plastic tool belt and yellow hard hat ("Everyone makes a fuss over how big I am, but my brother is really big"). Pairs of photos expand the effect: a shot of big brother with an "open wide" expression offering a spoonful of strained carrots ("My big brother feeds me," says the baby) is followed by a photo of the older sibling's food-speckled face ("And I feed my big brother"). Later, dual shots of a peek-a-boo game in progress draw readers into the action. In the end, big brother turns the tables: lying on the floor he puts a mirror to baby's face, revealing the narrator for the first time. With just a whiff of irony, this attractive volume unveils not only a talented photographer, but an author fully attuned to her subjects. Ages 3-6. (July) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 1-Big brother is so big he doesn't even fit on the cover of the book. All readers see are his untied sneakers, his baggy red socks, and his bandaged legs stretching up off the page. He is so big that he can do just about anything: play wonderful music (he beats a drum and blows a whistle), engage in important work (he's wearing a toy construction hat and tools), and train for the circus (he balances a large ball on his feet). But this boy is not so busy that he can't find time for his younger sibling. They play together and he even endures being splattered with food and listening to ear-offending "singing." This ode to the wonders of a boy whose simplest deeds take on heroic proportions in the eyes of a young sibling is related in brief, simple sentences and illustrated with close-up, full-color photographs, framed in white and placed opposite huge type surrounded by white space on the left. When big brother is standing, he is viewed from the perspective of someone very low to the ground looking up. It is only in the last frame, where the child is mirrored in a toy, that readers learn the supposed "narrator" is a baby. This will make a fine read-aloud, but it'll probably appeal more to older siblings than to the lap set.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Written from the point of view of a baby brother, and ostensibly intended for the younger sibling, this paean to older brothers will comfort first-borns who may have trouble adjusting to a new baby, showing them just how much they mean to their newest family members. Featuring large, bright photos of big brother from a baby's perspective, the simple text describes all the wonderful things big brothers can do-play, feed the baby, create "the best" music on a whistle and drum-plus some of the less-than-wonderful things the long-suffering big brother puts up with-baby "feeding" him back and "singing" along. The photos present the baby's-eye view perfectly; big brother is larger-than-life, and objects behind him (such as the family dog, in a hilarious shot of big brother wearing a fake dog nose) are appropriately out of focus. When big brother feeds baby, the spoon is clearly in focus while big brother is not. This original, playful, realistic, and reassuring take on newly acquired big brotherhood is a welcome addition to the genre, and is suitable for an especially wide age range, as parents can share it with both baby and big brother. A follow-up for big sisters would be a fine idea. (Picture book. 2-7)

Kirkus Reviews