Pecan Pie Baby

by Jacqueline Woodson (Author) Sophie Blackall (Illustrator)

Pecan Pie Baby
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Gia is tired of hearing about the new baby. It hasn't even been born yet, but everyone, even her friends, seem fixated on it. Gia thinks things are fine just the way they are! And she's worried: if the baby's such a big deal now, what's going to happen to Gia's nice, cozy life with Mama once it's born?

Beloved author Jacqueline Woodson and Sophie Blackall have created a heartwarming story for kids adjusting to the idea of a new family member. Young readers will be reassured by Gia's eventual understanding that the baby won't ruin the special bond she has with her mom, and might even be a sweet addition to the family.

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Starred Review
Gia's narrative voice is prime Woodson--lyrical, colloquial, and imbued with the authentic feelings of a child.

Publishers Weekly

Mama is pregnant with what soon-to-be sibling Gia refers to as "the ding-dang baby." Among the indignities she suffers: the in utero baby is already copying Gia's love of pecan pie—a culinary obsession that Gia thought she could share with Mama alone. "So that baby's just being a copycat!" gripes Gia. Newbery Honor author Woodson (Show Way) doesn't have new insights into displacement fears: the usual anxieties, oblivious relatives, and reassurances populate her story. But what she does have to say still resonates: "I know what I'm going to miss the most," Gia complains after an outburst at Thanksgiving dinner. "My whole, whole life." Blackall's (Big Red Lollipop) stylized ink and watercolor images, with their muted colors and slightly flattened perspectives, have a strong sense of style and calming warmth, as in a scene where Gia sits on the stoop, special memories of her mother spooling outward in squiggly thought bubbles. Gia may have moments when she feels "real, real, real alone," but readers will sense that Mama's love endures—and that Gia is going to be a very cool older sister. Ages 5-8. (Oct.)

Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2—Gia's mother is pregnant, and the child is not happy about it. As the story progresses, so does Gia's resentment until it all comes to a head at the Thanksgiving dinner table when she says quietly at first, and then practically yells, "'I'm so sick of that ding-dang baby!'" She is sent to her room where she has time to think. Mama later shares her feelings of how she, too, is going to miss some of the things that will change when the baby comes. "'Those were the good old days.' says Gia. Mama says, "'Guess you're going to have to tell the baby all about it, ' and Gia agrees, 'I guess I am.'" From then on, the girl is reassured and her attitude changes for the better. The one thing that Gia, her mother, and the new baby already share is a love of pecan pie. This sweet universal story will have broad appeal. Blackall's full-spread illustrations done in ink and watercolor gently convey the sense of passing time, along with Gia's frustration and nostalgia regarding how things used to be and how they will change. A fine addition to the new-sibling canon.—Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Kirkus

Starred Review
Fresh and wise.

Review quotes



Jacqueline Woodson
Jacqueline Woodson (www.jacquelinewoodson.com) is the recipient of a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children's Literature Legacy Award. She was the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, and in 2015, she was named the Young People's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. She received the 2014 National Book Award for her New York Times bestselling memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, the NAACP Image Award, and a Sibert Honor. She wrote the adult books Red at the Bone, a New York Times bestseller, and Another Brooklyn, a 2016 National Book Award finalist. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from college with a B.A. in English. She is the author of dozens of award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a four-time National Book Award finalist, and a three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Her books include Coretta Scott King Award winner Before the Ever After; New York Times bestsellers The Day You Begin and Harbor Me; The Other Side, Each Kindness, Caldecott Honor book Coming On Home Soon; Newbery Honor winners Feathers, Show Way, and After Tupac and D Foster; and Miracle's Boys, which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Award. Jacqueline is also a recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature and a two-time winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780147511287
Lexile Measure
560
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Nancy Paulsen Books
Publication date
October 17, 2013
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV013040 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | New Baby
Library of Congress categories
Mother and child
Babies
Single-parent families
Pregnancy
Infants
Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards
Honor Book 2011 - 2011
Georgia Children's Book Award
Nominee 2013 - 2013
Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award
Nominee 2012 - 2013

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