Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth!

Starred review from November 2, 2009
In a rant worthy of talk radio, young Sophie warns readers of the horrors of siblinghood: “Babies are not sweet. Babies are not precious. Babies are not cute. Babies are... your worst nightmare
!” If readers need further proof of Sophie's claims, Neubecker (Wow! School!
), wonderfully in his element, offers a portrait of infant-as-alien worthy of the Weekly World News
(in addition to aliens, Sophie also compares babies to pirates and monsters). Truth (actually) be told, all of Sophie's complaints are familiar to the genre: babies are smelly crybabies, attention hoggers and violators of personal space and property. But Weeks (Catfish Kate and the Sweet Swamp Band
) makes the material fresh: her heroine has an indelible personality and a voice that spills off the page, aided by comic typography (“If you have to sit next to a monster all the way to your aunt and uncle's house in Syracuse, New York, do not breathe in through your nose
”). Fully owning her wounded rage, Sophie seethes with precocious certitude as she marshals evidence (she's big on lists) and wields rhetorical flourishes—the text is a gift to anyone reading aloud. Ages 4–8.

Starred review from December 1, 2009
PreS-Gr 2-In no uncertain terms, a girl warns readers about the perils of a new sibling. Looking like an alien at first, and the object of unwarranted praise and attention, a baby is prone to all manner of gross behaviors. Sophie reveals that the situation doesn't get better as the infant grows into a toddler (known as a "monster"): stealing Halloween candy, swallowing lucky marbles, and exhibiting general uninhibited behavior. She softens, though, when the monster begins to focus affection on her but leaves readers with a warning not to reveal this softness to parents lest they repeat the experience. Weeks has created a feisty, forthright protagonist who lays out the pros and cons of a new brother with delightful tongue-in-cheek detail. The ink and digitally colored illustrations and boldface words in the text perfectly catch the narrative nuances and enhance it with cheeky perspectives and funny touches. Older siblings will laugh at the younger child's antics and parents will chortle at Sophie's reactions and perspective in all her righteous truth telling."Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2009
Preschool-G With thick-lined cartoon illustrations in bright colors and clear bold type that gets bigger and bigger, this picture book tells the story of a young preschooler who shouts out her furious jealousy about her new little brother. Grown-ups croon at his eensy-weensy little toes (gitchy-gitchy-goo!), but she fumes about the truth that babies are not sweet, precious, or cute. The pictures show her viewpoint of her new sibling as an alien creature who has big eyes and a bald head and makes strange noises. The physical realities of living with a baby sibling ring true. When he learns to crawl and then walk, he gets into Sophies things, and he stinks up the backseat of the car. Then, after dispensing advice on how to live with a monster, Sophie gives a surprising warning: watch out; as he reaches out to you, you might actually start to like him. The details of messy daily life and the honest, unsentimental expressions of rage and bonding are just right for young children to recognize and laugh about together.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)