What Sisters Do Best/What Brothers Do Best

Workmanlike, but at the same time warm and charming. For the right family, it will be a winner. The blurb gives a very good idea of the experience of enjoying it... as they say, for every child who has or wishes for a sibling.

Random note - I found it at a Little Free Library and was sorely tempted to knife out the endpaper on the sisters side... those falling leaves are gorgeous imo. But my honor is intact, because the book had been exposed to damp and the paper did have bleeding.

I have mixed feelings about this book because while it is a unique and interesting book to read, not everyone can relate to it which may be unappealing for some children. I liked this book because it was basically two books in one. On one side, the story "What Sisters Do Best" can be read, while when the book flipped over, a story called "What Brothers Do Best" can be read as well. This is the first book I have ever seen made this way and I think the unique structure would be appealing to young readers. I also liked how the illustrations perfectly match the activity that is going on in the story. For example, one page reads, "Sisters can teach you their favorite sport," while it shows mice playing soccer together. It is important that show more this illustrations clearly match the text for young readers so they can understand what is going on. If they're struggling with certain words, the illustrations can really help them decipher those words. Something I wasn't fond of about the book was that this topic doesn't relate to all students. I personally cannot relate since I am an only child and I would rather pick up a different book that I could relate to if this was in a classroom library. The big picture of the story was to appreciate and love your sibling and show different fun things you can do with them. show less

What Sisters Do Best/What Brothers Do Best is a cute little book with very nice artwork by Lynn Munsinger that tries to remind siblings that having a brother or sister has an up sideup. It does this by talking about activities children are likely to do together, like climbing trees, swinging, and playing tag. And because all of the characters are animals, it allows for some latitude, in most cases, for the gender of each character. (In some pictures the bows and skirts identify gender.)

If you are wondering about the title, I should say that this book is two-books-in-one. By which I mean that the way that the book is structured, you read it one way to the half-way point, then flip it over so that you can then read about the opposite show more sibling arrangement from the other side.

The text is identical in both versions, but the artwork is different. For example in one version of 'share a delicious snack' the children are sharing popcorn, while in the alternative they are eating from both ends of a huge sandwich at a picnic.

Overall, it's the sort of book that I think would be ideal for reading to a toddler, preschooler, or even a first grader, before a new baby appears in the house to set up a positive scenario. I also think it would be a great sit-down and read it together book for siblings who are going through one of those 'fussy' moments. (Moooommm, she's touching me! Mom, he's sticking his tongue out!)

Pam ~
mom and reviewer at BooksForKids-reviews show less

This book was really cute because at first, it shows you what sisters do best and how much fun they have. Then you flip the page and we get to see what brothers do best. The words end up being the same and I think the author did that to show kids that no matter if you have a brother or a sister you can have fun. It is all about the love you have for each other and that is very important.

Summary: This is actually two stories in one. On one side of the book it has a story about what sisters do best and when you flip the book over it is a story about what brothers do best.

Personal Reaction: This story is adorable! It highlights all the fun things that siblings can so together. It would be cute to read to a child that is expecting a baby brother or sister. This would not really be a book I would read in my classroom only because not all children will have a brother or sister.

Classroom Extention: 1. After reading this story the children could draw a picture or write a sentence about what they like to do with their brother or sister. 2. The children could draw a picture of their family after reading this book.

This book is very similar to Laura Numeroff's book, "What Aunts Do Best/ What Uncles Do Best". Like is said in the other review, this book can be helpful for children to understand how important their siblings are but he two stories are combined into one book but they are flipped flopped from one another and I think it just confuses kids. I do not agree with combing two books but as for someone my age I could understand the book but if I was a second grader It would be somewhat confusing.

This was a great book to talk about the relationships between brothers and sisters. This book was actually two in one. It had two covers, “What Sisters Do Best” and “What Brothers Do Best”. The book had the same words on each side on the book but it changed from sisters to brothers. I really liked how the book portrayed the relationships between brothers and sisters. The book showed all of the amazing things you could do when you have a brother or sisters. For example, “Sisters can teach you how to swim, do a puzzle with you, and let you win at tic-tac-toe.” And it wrapped up both books with the same sentence, “But best of all, brothers (sisters) can give you lots and lots of love!” the main idea of this book is that show more brothers and sisters will always be there for you to play with you, teach you and give you lots of love. show less