Critical issues book

It's Not Fair!

Harper, A. (2007). It’s not fair. New York: Holiday House, Inc.

ISBN: 0-8234-2094-0

The story is about a girl whose parents bought home a new baby, and she is not very happy about it. Since all the attention goes to this new baby, and people do everything for him, she now has to do everything by herself therefore she thinks it’s not fair. On the other hand, sometimes she thinks it’s good to be the older one, since she can do something that her baby brother is not allowed to do, or he is not able to do yet. For example, she can walk on her own, or go out and play with her friends while her baby brother is not big enough to do so.

I think this book is very suitable for 3-5 year old children since having a young sibling is a very common occurrence among 3-5 year olds. In some cases, a new born baby at home can be a reason for the older sibling to begin acting out because they feel left out. In some cases, when parents bring home the new baby sibling, the older sibling might feel like he/she is not being paid attention to as much as he/she was before, and may find this unfair; but after a while they may get used the idea of being a big brother or sister.

This book is very attractive for children since it’s filled with bright colors, and the pictures are very large and attractive. There are also some sentences that are repeated a couple of times, which lets children become familiar with it, and this gives them an opportunity to become involved in the story, by repeating the repetition, every time you read the story. So when you read it for the second, third, fourth, etc, they might guess which sentence comes next.

Before children come to the center you can put up some pictures of basic baby items, like bottles, pacifiers, etc. Then you can ask the children who uses these items, thus getting them prepared for the story about a new-born baby.

Ways to present the book:

-Felt board: I can present the book by using a felt board; I can make characters from the story; the girl, her parents, and the new born baby, out of felt. In the story, there are different places, such as a park, a play ground, etc, so I would make sure all these places were included as well, so that children can visualize the story better. You can buy the materials for this story board at Michaels; or you can see if its available ready made at 3HCraftworks.

-Puppet: I can make puppets of the various characters in the story (girl, her parents, new born baby). The puppets can be made with felt, fabrics, or other materials, like stuffed dolls. The supplies can be bought at a thrift store, Michaels, or dollar store.

-Audience participation using masks: I can make masks for the main characters, such as the mother, father, girl, and baby brother. This gets children more involved during the telling of the story. Children are always ready to role play. One way to make the masks is by cutting out photocopies of the main characters from the story. Laminating them and then cutting out holes where the eyes and mouth would be. Then I can punch holes on either side of the mask and use elastic so that when the child puts it on, it doesn’t fall off.

Extensions:

-Song: I find songs or nursery rhymes about new born babies and sing it with children.

-Discussion: I can also have a discussion about siblings, asking questions and getting feedback from those in the class that have younger siblings. I can bring up some questions for children to think of. For example: what they most like about being an older sibling or how they felt when their baby brother or sister came home

-Art: I can also ask them to draw a room for their new baby brother or sister with whatever she/he needs to have in his/her room. If someone or several children in the class do not have a younger sibling I would ask them to create a room for an imaginary one.