Stupid Baby

Simon is playing happily with his brilliant tower of blocks – ka-blam! - when his mum shushes him. She doesn’t want him to wake the new baby, but that makes Simon very cross. Who is this new baby to come along and spoil everything? Yet, one night, Simon becomes convinced that there are wolves outside his window and they’re coming to get him. Despite how annoying the new baby is, Simon decides that he will be a good older brother and protect his new brother against the wolves.

Stephanie Blake’s series of stories about Simon the rabbit are truly excellent because of their honesty about young children: Simon is not a model child, has tantrums and does all the yucky and sometimes mean things that little ones do. His emotions are expressed brilliantly in bold lines and colours by Blake, who understands toddler moods incredibly well – but also understands that, of course, little ones are still learning about the world, and struggling to control or understand their emotions and reactions to change. In Stupid Baby, Simon comes to his own realisation about his new little brother and bonds with him in his own way, finding empowerment in his role as big brother. A brilliant book to share with little ones where a new baby is on the way in the family, or has recently arrived.