First There Was Me, Then There Was You

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Author(s)

Yvonne Sewankambo

Publisher

Candlewick Press

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

February 11, 2025

ISBN

1536239003

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A heartwarming story of new siblings captures the friendship, imagination, and occasional rivalry of a brother and baby sister growing up together.

You were as small as a pumpkin,
with a cute button nose.
It was love at first sight . . .

When a big brother meets the baby sibling he’s been waiting for, he loves her immediately, but is a little disappointed at how little she can do. Soon it’s time to show her the ropes! Walking, talking, hide-and-seek, reading, making Mom and Dad laugh—he’s got her covered. Even through tantrums and squabbles, each day they learn new things or make new friends, and wherever they go, they can always count on each other. In a charmingly illustrated story with sure appeal for families introducing a new baby, Ugandan-Canadian-Australian author Yvonne Sewankambo and illustrator Aurore McLeod relay the magic (and occasional missteps) of sibling relationships everywhere.

Editor review

1 review

Excellent book on life with a new sibling

April 11, 2025 (Updated: July 01, 2026)

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

5.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

A young boy waits eagerly for the birth of his sister, and is glad that she has arrived even though she is rather boring at first. He tells her all of the things that they will do when she is older, but also takes the time to help her learn to walk and talk. As she gets older, he can help her dance, run around, and amuse their parents. Things will not always go smoothly, and there may be fights and misunderstandings, but the boy is glad to have his sister in his life and offers her his unwavering support.

Good Points

I enjoyed the overall tone of this, which nicely balanced the good and bad things about having a sibling. The boy is somewhat older, perhaps five, when his sister is born, so he has some patience that younger children may not have with infants. Even though his sister is boring, he is able to recognize the fact that there are small milestones that will lead up to a day when she is more interesting and can play with him. The recognition that there may be some sibling spats, but they will be temporary, was great. The boy in this book is certainly an exemplary older brother!

McLeod's artwork is engaging, and I loved how many of the backgrounds were set outdoors. My favorite part, which is easy to miss, was the depiction of the brother and sister's companion stuffed animals having their own adventures on some of the pages. The brother has a rabbit, and the sister a much smaller bear, and they are shown dancing, hanging from a tree branch, and having their own squabble. The rabbit even carries the bear through a field of flowers! I am not sure why this was so touching, but I enjoyed it.

There are plenty of books welcoming new babies, but I liked that this was forward looking and gave some insight into what the future would hold for the brother and sister's relationship. First There Was You, Then There Was Me is a stand out in the new sibling category, which includes Bradbury's Nearly Exactly Almost Like Me, Laguna's When You're Older, Childs' The New Small Person, Pinckney's Brandon and the Baby, and the classic Keats' Peter's Chair.