Old MacDonald Had A Baby by Emily Snape

Old MacDonald Had a Baby by Emily Snape

Since Kit is going to have a little brother soon (T-minus 4 weeks! or possibly less than that!), we've been reading a lot of books about babies and being a big sibling. Old MacDonald Had A Baby didn't do much to prepare Kit for the chaos of having a baby in the house, but it is a really cute book, and as a bonus, it features two dads. A family member of ours is having a baby with their same-sex partner, and we've talked about how families can have one mom, one dad, two moms, two dads, just grandparents or aunts and uncles, and all kinds of different combinations. It's great that this book helps reinforce that families can look different ways because this is still something that isn't seen often in books or on TV. It is a pretty minor part of the book, but I love that it's there regardless.

Old MacDonald is a new retelling of the classic song, but instead of recounting the different animals on the farm and their sounds, one daddy waves goodbye to the other and starts his day with baby: dressing the baby, feeding the baby, going to the park with the baby, and more, all with the help of the farm animals. 

Kit found this scene especially funny.

What Kit and I Liked:

• The inclusion of a gay couple, and a gay couple of color as well
• A dad taking care of the baby- I wish more books featured this
• Hilarious pictures
• The traditional E-I-E-I-O refrain
• Silly animals

What We Didn't Like:

• Some of the rhymes just didn't hit the spot and were a bit awkward 

Overall, this book is worth picking up if it's available to you at your local library (or via an e-book, which is how we read it!), but I might skip it as a buy if it's not one that your kid really loves.