[.uk] Julius, the Baby of the World (ISBN 0688143881)

Too mean-spirited:
I really like Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, and I also love other books by Kevin Henkes. But my husband and I agreed that Lilly comes across as too harsh and bratty in this book. I don't like exposing my four-year-old to Lilly's cruel comments towards her brother. I don't want him to view her behavior as acceptable and humorous for fear that he will try it out on his younger sister.

Great sibling rivalry story for kids:
My girls adored this book and others by Henkes. Lilly does some mean things to baby Julius, but nothing outrageous, as he is now the center of attention in their household. Of course, at the end of the story she defends him and loves him. I love the repetition of certain phrases in the book. It makes reading the book fun, and it also helps my girls in their reading of it. I'd recommend this book for children from 3 or 4 and up. My girls are currently 5 and 6, but we've had this book for almost a year.

Awful:
This book was given to my two-year-old while I was 8 months pregnant with my second child. After I read through it once, it quickly ended up at the Goodwill. Lily's behavior is supposed to be interpreted as funny, but it is downright awful. She says things like, "I hate you. You're ugly." We all know that toddlers are parrots, so why in the world would anybody want to introduce this kind of behavior to them? We have a few other books by Kevin Henkes that we really enjoy, so I was extremely disappointed that this book was such a bummer. We love Usborne's "The New Baby" if you're looking for a book that will appropriately prepare your toddler for a new sibling.

Awful! Awful! Awful!:
This is the first time I've ever written a review about anything but I found it necessary to warn parents about this book. I cannot believe I allowed this book into our home collection (it was a gift, by the way) and after reading it way to many times, against my better judgement, I threw it away! I could have donated it, sold it at a garage sale but why let other kids listen to this junk. As the previous reviewers state, Lily is a total brat, her language is awful, and the meaning of this book is ridiculous. Thanks to Mr. Henke, my children now love to say words like disgusting, hate, ugly, etc. I'm sorry but I'd rather not allow my kids to speak that way. Yes, they do it to be funny but I don't talk that way and I'd rather they not either. Fortunately, unlike Lily, they are not saying these things about their new baby sister nor are they trying to scare, pinch, etc. her. But they are 4.5 and 2.5, way to impressionable. It just blows my mind that there are so many good reviews of this book and I can't believe anyone would want to write a book like this for children. Why would you want to introduce these words and ideas to kids? I understand that not every child is going to welcome a new baby into their family the way we would like and that kids probably do and say things like Lily but why encourage it? I just wish I would have thrown it out sooner.

Awesome book - fabulous gift!:
This book is the perfect gift for a child that has a new baby at his or her house! The story line describes the excitement surrounding the soon-to-be birth of a baby. THEN the inconvenience, jealousy, and frustration felt after the baby actually arrives. I've given this book to several "big brothers" and "big sisters" when I've sent a baby gift.