WHEN THE BABIES CAME TO STAY

A gentle, humorous story has a significant message of love and acceptance.

The first baby arrived on the mail plane, the second two on the ferry, the fourth asleep on a pile of nets, smelling of mackerel. Who were the babies? Where did they come from? The notes left with them said "Please keep this baby safe" and "Please give my child shelter." Only the librarian can take them home, and the library is where they grow up. The whole island helps to raise them. The fisherman teaches them to cast from the pier, the ferryman shows them charts of the sea, and from the harbormaster they learn to recognize birds.
"Who are you?" other children ask. "Why don't you look alike?" The librarian gathers them in her arms. "Families don't always look alike," she says. "And where we're going is more important than where we came from."

This charming, lighthearted fairytale contains a message of acceptance that is particularly significant for our time.
- Experienced author. Christine McDonnell is a former teacher and librarian, and currently runs the book club at Brookline Booksmith.
- Relevant theme. Finding a home far from your origins is a theme that will resonate with readers.
- Readaloud text. Text is a delightful readaloud.
- Charming art. Jeanette Bradley's art combines sweetness and humor in a way that recalls Helen Oxenbury.
- Appealing babies. Kids love to look at babies and decide which ones resemble themselves.


Christine McDonnell grew up in New York suburbs and attended Barnard College and Columbia University Library School. She is a former New York City and Boston librarian, and subsequently taught in the Brookline, Massachusetts, public schools. She currently runs the book club at Brookline Booksmith and teaches literacy at Rosie's Place, a women's shelter. Ms. McDonnell is the author of ten chapter books and middle grade novels as well as four picture books. She holds an MFA from Hamline University.

Jeanette Bradley has worked as an urban planner, an apprentice pastry chef, and the artist-in-residence for a traveling art museum on a train. She grew up in Rochester, New York, attended Rhode Island School of Design, and lives in Rhode Island, where she loves to explore the beaches with her family. Her debut picture book, Love, Mama, was published in 2018.