The Swap by Jan Ormerod illustrated by Andrew Joyner

Caroline Crocodile is jealous of her new baby brother.  He seems to get all the attention she craves from Mama Crocodile.  What can Caroline do?  On a shopping trip to return a newly purchased hat Caroline sees a solution to her problem.  There is a baby shop in the street.  Why not swap this brother for a different one?

"This baby brother is not exactly what I want,' she said. 'It's smelly and it dribbles, it's no fun, and it takes up all the room on my mama's lap.  I want to swap it for one that is just right."

While The Swap is not a new story and perhaps not even a very surprising one it is told with such joy and the illustrations are so much fun.  I do hope this book wins an award from the CBCA for 2014.

Make sure you go back and look at all the little extras such as number plates, the photos in the house, the sale sign outside the bookshop, the mouse and his motorcycle and the way mama's new hat exactly matches Caroline's pretty yellow dress.

After reading The Swap you might also enjoy some other books about new babies, siblings and jealousy such as  The very worst Monster by Pat Hutchins, Another Brother by Mathew Cordell, Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells, Rosie and Tortoise by Margaret Wild or Julius the Baby of the world by Kevin Henkes.

You might like to read this review by Louise Pfanner or this one from The Bottom Shelf.