The riotously funny Lilly, last seen in Chester's Way (Greenwillow), thinks her new baby brother, Julius, is disgusting--if he was a number, he would be zero. But when Cousin Garland dares to criticize Julius, Lilly bullies her into loudly admiring Julius as the baby of the world.Lilly knows her baby brother is nothing but dreadful--until she claims him for her own. "Henkes displays a deep understanding of sibling rivalry and a child's fragile self-esteem....Lilly is a superb and timely heroine."
在鼠弟弟Julius诞生前，鼠姐姐Lilly是世界上最好的姐姐。但是当Julius一出生，Lilly就完全变了样，不但把给弟弟的东西收了回来，偷捏弟弟的尾巴，还对它说难听的话。爸妈觉得Julius可爱极了，Lilly却认为它很丑。爸妈常常让弟弟知道它们有多爱它，不断地小心呵护着它，但是Lilly却总是和它们唱反调。 Lilly因为爱捉弄弟弟，被罚坐的次数越来越多。而爸妈为了讨好Lilly，不但给它好多东西，还纵容它很多事，但是这一点都不管用，Lilly还是一点都不喜欢弟弟。 Lilly学弟弟的行为，不但得不到爸妈的欢心还被责备，它甚至有好几次都想离家出走。后来，爸妈为Julius举行了一个派对，所有的亲戚朋友都来祝贺，大家也都非常喜欢Julius，不时地逗弄它玩。只有一个人和Lilly一样讨厌Julius，它在Lilly面前说Julius的坏话。这时候的Lilly觉得很不开心，开始反驳说…

For children who are facing the arrival of a new sibling, Julius, the Baby of the World makes for great biblio-therapy. At first, big sister Lilly thought it might be fun to have a new baby in the family. But when her parents repeatedly coo, "Julius is the baby of world," Lilly's mouse hackles begin to rise. Soon the jealousy is too much for her, and she embarks on a rejection campaign that is hysterically funny, but also comforting for siblings who probably feel just as much resentment but would never go to Lilly's extremes. Kevin Henkes, creator of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse refuses to shy away from the truly powerful and sometimes dark feelings of children. Through bright watercolors and handwritten, cartoon-style dialogue, Henkes relishes Lilly's wickedness. For example, she delights in insulting her oblivious baby brother: "If you were a food, you'd be a raisin," she whispers into his crib. "If you were a number you'd be zero." When she paints an elaborate family portrait, she leaves Julius out. When she throws a tea party, guess which baby doesn't get an invitation? But when a visiting cousin starts insulting baby Julius, we discover that the flip side of Lilly's intense jealousy is an even more powerful and lasting loyalty. ALA Notable Book, ALA Booklist Children's Editors' Choice, Horn Book Fanfare Honor List, Parent's Choice Honor for Literature. (Baby to Preschool) --Gail Hudson

本书非常适合让身为哥哥姐姐的小读者们阅读。当家中添了新成员，做老大的心理或多或少都会有点不是滋味，因为父母的注意力通常会转移到小宝宝的身上，有时候可能会不小心忽略了其他孩子的心情，让他们的心理不平衡，甚至误会爸妈不再像从前一样爱他们。这些做大哥大姐的觉得自己失宠的原因就是弟弟妹妹的存在，因而想尽办法捉弄他们，也因此而受到惩罚，导致自己对他们更加仇恨。希望看了本书的哥哥姐姐们都能够体谅爸妈，他们并非不爱你们，而是弟弟妹妹还小，需要更多的照顾，但这并不表示对你们的爱会减少哦！