View source for There's a House Inside My Mummy by Giles Andreae and Vanessa Cabban

{{infobox2
|title=There's a House Inside My Mummy
|author=Giles Andreae and Vanessa Cabban
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1408315880
|pages=32
|publisher=Orchard
|date=January 2012
|aznuk=1408315882
|aznus=1408315882
|cover=1408315882
|summary=A wonderful rhyming book to share with little ones who are looking forward (or perhaps not!) to the arrival of a new sibling. 
}}

The arrival of a new sibling can be a tricky time in any child's life, but this lovely book helps ease the way for a new baby and explains about pregnancy in a very easy, funny way that is perfect for sharing with toddlers.  The idea of there being a house inside mummy's tummy is a clever one, and instantly understandable by small children, and the loving family relationship that is depicted in the story is wonderful to see.

The whole book is written in rhyme and, fortunately, the rhymes work well and don't leave you feeling uncomfortable.  They give the book a nice flowing feel as you read it aloud.  As I mentioned, the imagery of the mummy's tummy being a house works well and I like the other ideas such as it being like ''a sort of giant bathtub'' or how the little boy talks to the baby through her ''tummy telephone''!

The discussion about some of the issues surrounding pregnancy, such as strange food cravings, is helpful for showing little ones what mummy is going through.  The little boy comments how the baby seems to want some funny food and makes his mummy eat some very crazy things!  He also says he tries to help look after his mum, letting her rest when she just falls asleep or understanding that she feels very sick sometimes and then commenting ''But if I had a house in me I'd feel quite poorly too.''  This is helpful to explain to my daughter why I'm needing to sit down all the time, and why I keep running to the bathroom, but it's also been of some comfort to me too, thinking about a house inside my tummy that's causing all this trouble!

The pictures compliment the text perfectly, with the family going about their every day chores as normal whilst they talk about the baby.  There's plenty to look at and talk about with toddlers who like to investigate every detail on every page.  My two favourite pictures are firstly of the mummy and her son lying on the sofa together, just having a snuggle as the boy talks into his mummy's tummy.  The second is of the mummy and boy in the bath together, and the boy is driving a car on his mummy's protruding tummy.  The pictures all feel very natural, loving and warm.

My only quibble with the whole book is that at the end it says ''Look who Mummy made for us - My lovely little brother!  There's no one in her tummy now...UNTIL SHE MAKES ANOTHER!'' which is a wonderful ending but prompted my daughter to then discuss how, once her baby brother is born (he's in the tummy house right now!) I can set about making her a sister!  A delightful book, definitely recommended!

For more help with the 'new sibling' issue try [[The Baby (But I'd Have Liked a Hamster) by India Knight and Jessica Meserve]] and [[I Want a Sister (Little Princess) by Tony Ross]].  For more problems with mummies, try [[The Mummy Shop by Abie Longstaff and Lauren Beard]].

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[[Category:Giles Andreae]]
[[Category:Vanessa Cabban]]