Baby is a story about a family that receives a baby at their home one day. The mother left a note explaining that her name is Sophie, she is almost a year old and she is good. The family grew to love Sophie, even though the father and Larkin were hesitant to getting close with the baby, they did. Larkin was hesitant because Sophie reminded her of her baby brother that had passed. Sophie's mother eventually comes to get her and the family finally sees Sophie at Byrd's funeral 10 years later, and she still remembered them, especially the way the dad played rock, paper, scissors with her. I really enjoyed this book. I thought that the beginning was kind of slow and hard for me to get into, but the further I got into the story, the more I started to enjoy it. My favorite part of the story at the end when Sophie remembered that the dad and her use to play rock, paper, scissors together. This part in the book made me think of the special times I had with my father when I was younger that I still remember to this day. I think that this book would be a good book to have in your library classroom for your older students in fourth and fifth grade. I think that these students would be able to follow the story, and understand what all is going on. I feel like if you try to let younger students read this book then they might get confused on all the characters and what is going on. I think that it would be a good book for students to connect with, especially if they are adopted themselves, or have a mother or father that is not in their life. I also think that this could be sad for some students and might make them miss their parents or guardians. So you might want to make sure your students can handle this story first.
What would you do if a baby was left at your doorstep with a note from her mother saying she would be back some day? Could you care for that baby, even come to love her, knowing she could be taken from you at any time? I don’t know that I could be that selfless, deal with that loss. In Baby we bear witness to the quirky, loving and ill-fated family that must deal with such sadness. Patricia MacLachlan proves to be a master of the metaphor in this beautifully written story that, at its core, is about the importance of words; learning them, sharing them, avoiding them, and most importantly, hearing them. Although some aspects of this story are mournful, what we take away from Baby is a family’s ability to put the pieces back together after a profound loss. Anyone having gone through a similar tragedy would draw inspiration and strength from this family, just as they did from the baby on their doorstep. www.booksnakereviews.blogspot.com
What do You think about Baby (1993)?
Absolutely beautiful book. Patricia MacLachlan has the amazing ability to say so much in so few words. Be warned though that this book is heartrending. The last time I cried so hard or so much whilst reading a book was the summer before ninth grade when I read Of Mice and Men. If you have ever experienced the death of a child, this book may, at times, be painful to read. However, there is also a lot of hope in the story. I am convinced that MacLachlan is the greatest American children's author alive. She understands the human heart so well.
—Fariba
It's been a long time since I read this book and it completely caught me off guard. I think of Maclachlan's books as being light and easy to read. While this one was an easy read, it certainly wasn't light. She paints the time following the death of a baby with carefully deep strokes. The story is mostly focused around the family's oldest child, Larkin, and how she seeks to name the baby (and also her grief). As the family struggles with the death of their baby (mostly by ignoring it), another c
—Jeni
Baby is a very emotional book due to the back and forth talk of Larkin and her relationship with her newborn baby brother who passed just a day after he was born as well as the new, abandoned baby, Sophie, who enters her life not long after the loss of her brother. Students could use this book to learn about perspective, since it's written in Larkin's point of view, as well as prediction, or filling in the gaps, near the end of the book when Sophie has grown up. They could write about what happened after Sophie left Larkin's family and why she decided, after all those years, to go back for the funeral of Bird.
—Jade Detzer
