After waiting quite a long time for her baby brother Edgar to arrive, the disappointed Hazel discovers that they won't be able to do all the things she had hoped, and that she must wait again for Edgar to say his first word. When that momentous day finally arrives, and Edgar's first word is "NO!" - a loudly and frequently expressed "No" - it looks as if Hazel is in for disappointment again. But then Edgar's second and third words reward her for all of her patient waiting...

An endearing story from author Audrey Vernick and cute illustrations from artist Priscilla Burris are paired in Edgar's Second Word, a new sibling picture-book that does something a little different. Usually in this type of book, the story chronicles an elder sibling's efforts to adjust to the new order of things, and to accept the coming of a new baby in the family. Here the coming of Edgar is an established and accepted fact, and the story focuses on an elder sister's initial disappointment that the much-heralded new arrival can't do that much yet. The eventual resolution of the story, in which Edgar says "again, 'azel," is made all the sweeter by that initial sense of disappointment. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about the experiences of an elder sibling, once the baby has arrived. ( )

Our main character, Hazel, is patiently waiting for her little brother to be born. She has already picked out book to read to him. She practiced reading to her stuffed bunny, Rodrigo, but he didn’t respond so, he was not much fun to read to. Unfortunately, once Edgar is born, Hazel realizes that “Edgar wasn’t much different from Rodrigo. Or a pillow. Or a watermelon. Hazel went back to waiting”. Hazel continued reading to him and Edgar started pointing. Then finally Edgar said his first word and it was NO!. Edgar said “no” to everything. It made Hazel tired. After many “no’s”, Edgar said his second word while Hazel was reading to him.

What a perfect book for big sisters! Librarians will love it because some of the scenes are in a library, there is lots of reading, slight humor in a librarian fainting because Edgar’s NO! was so loud. The story perfectly expresses in words and illustrations how people react to a baby’s “no” and how enthusiastic they are about using it. Hazel is such a positive role model for big sisters because she does not give up on reading to her little brother. I love this message!

The illustrations seem to be done in a soft watercolor and ink. They look like they will appeal to young readers. The images are expressive and convey a lot of emotion to the reader. It’s very realistic and heartwarming. This would be a great read aloud to new big brothers and big sisters everywhere. It would be good for school librarians to recommend to students experiencing being a new big sister or brother. ( )

Sweet sibling story. ( )

Hazel is all excited about having a little brother. She cannot wait till he is born so that she can read to him and play with him. But, when Edgar was born he wanted nothing to do with Hazel. Any time she tried to read to him he would say no. she very upset about it. But, one day Edgar was pleased with Hazel. He finally spoke his second word. He told her Again! he wanted her to read to him again. She was so excited.
This book teaches children to have patience. Hazel could have shut down and never spoke to her brother. Instead she never gave up. In the end she had a very positive outcome and she was very pleased. ( )