By Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen
A big sister has a long list of things she'll do with the new baby, and when Isaac is born with Down syndrome, she wants to know whether the list still counts.
Emma is six, and she's got the new baby all figured out. They'll drive to Grandpa's farm and feed the calves. They'll sit in the back of the van making faces at the cars behind them. They'll fly on an airplane, go on safari in Africa, watch elephants. And at the art festival she'll teach the baby to paint a picture with a rubber octopus, and the two of them will paint it red. Then Isaac arrives, and Emma's dad tells her that Isaac has Down syndrome. She catches the worry in his voice before she catches the words, and she asks the one thing she really needs to know: can Isaac still do everything on her list? Her dad takes the question seriously. Then he tells her yes — Isaac can do all of it, as long as they're patient and give him a hand when he needs one. The last pages answer, plainly, the kinds of questions a child tends to ask about Down syndrome.
It hands a young child the exact question they're carrying and says it out loud for them. Emma isn't fretting about Isaac's future the way a grown-up would. She's fretting about the octopus, and the safari, and whether her plans still hold. That's the real size of what a small child turns over when a new baby turns out to be different from the one they pictured, and the book puts words to it so they don't have to. What Emma's dad does with the question is the useful part for you: he doesn't wave it off, and he doesn't treat it as bad news. He says yes, with patience and a little help. The question-and-answer pages at the back pick up whatever the story leaves open, and you may find yourself reaching for them by the third read.