This book sweetly celebrates the new--and life-long--relationship between a big brother and his little sister. This year, our 4-year-old son became a big brother. We received other books about big-brotherhood, but many present some pretty dire negatives (the baby will cry a lot, the baby will take your parents' attention, the baby will want your stuff) and I have never even bothered to read them to our son because I didn't want to taint his view of having a little sister. I have no hesitation in reading this book to our son, and as our baby girl grows, I will happily read it to her so she too can hear about the blessing of having a big brother. We initially got this book from the library, but are now purchasing it to keep on hand.

If you haven't met Alfie yet, this is a gorgeous introduction. We bought this for my 3 year old son when I was expecting my 2nd, which turned out to be a girl. My 3 year old listens very attentively and smiles in all the right places. It's as if he's wondering when he too will be able to do all these things with his little sister.

I read this book to my son after the new baby arrived to help him understand about being a big brother and he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Shirley Hughes captures special childhood moments in her beautifully illustrated books. My daughter has loved all of the Shirley Hughes books we've read, including the Alfie stories (most of which are now out of print) and "Dogger." This new tale of Alfie and Annie Rose is lovely -- your kids will love it (from age 3 on) and you will enjoy reading it to them.

But in a good way. As a momma to a three-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl, the last line, about how they'll go on being big brother and little sister, "even until we're all grown up" does it to me every time! Such a sweet and realistic view of siblings at this age.