Julius, The Baby of the World

Written by Kevin Henkes

Narrated by Laura Hamilton

Big sister Lilly (star of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse) thought it might be fun to have a new baby in the family.

But jealousy takes over and her efforts to alienate her oblivious baby brother are both hysterically funny and ultimately comforting for siblings with similar feeling of resentment.

A Live Oak Media audio production.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Live Oak Media
• Release date: Jan 1, 2003
• ISBN: 9781430115335

Kevin Henkes

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Reviews for Julius, The Baby of the World

[aehunter-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lily is so excited to be a big sister, that is until the baby is actually here. When her little brother arrives she becomes extremely jealous of all of the attention he's getting, and imagines all kinds of bad things that could happen to him. It isn't until Lily's cousin starts insulting her little brother that she begins to defend him, and learns to love her brother.Teaching Ideas: love, family dynamics

[shelbyburton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is yet another of Henkes books, starring the ever-lovable Lilly, which allows readers to feel as if they are within the story. First off, Henkes chose an extremely relatable topic to write about. Having and hating a baby sibling is common among many young readers, which automatically catches the reader’s interest and begs them to read more. Then Henkes uses his method of repetition to symbolize how much Lilly resented how her parents adored Julius, “Julius is the baby of the world.” Finally, the author used descriptive language to describe Lilly’s emotions thoroughly. Each page included at least one descriptive word about her feelings such as, “hate,” “disgust,” and “frightened.” These techniques helped Henkes to clearly express his main message that babies might be a bother, but they are your family so you will always have a strong bond with them.

[lbblackwell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lilly is excited about her new baby brother, Julius. That is, until he is born. Then she thinks he is disgusting!Kevin Henkes creates a fantastic story for children facing the arrival of a sibling.

[parejess · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this book because it is extremely relatable. There is a new baby coming into the family, and Lily is extremely jealous--as any older sibling would be. The new baby seems to take up all of the parents' attention, even love, and no one likes to be out-shined. As humans, we like to be the most popular and well-liked, and so when someone threatens that, we tend not to like them, and that is exactly what happens with Julius.It was also really cool to see how quickly Lily changes her opinion of Julius when someone ELSE poses a threat to him. When someone out-shines you, you feel it is your right to detest them (both privately and publicly), but when someone else shows those same feelings, you feel personally offended. This may be a baby who is making Lily frustrated, but it is her brother, and it is her responsibility to stick up for him. I'm really glad the author included this point--it makes it all the more relatable, and therefore all the more realistic.

[rrobinson2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If there is a book that I will never forget it's this book. Julius, the Baby of the World really is a well written story. I feel in love with Lily instantly. You feel the hurt she feels from not being the center of attention. At one point I believed that Julius was everything Lily described him to be. Lily over came her resentment toward her brother and realized how much her parents opinion of Julius was everything she learned to love Julius for. Humorous does not begin to describe this book but it never strayed from the point he put forth. Yes, Lily loved her brother it was that she had to learn to adjust and learn to love baby Julius the way that her parents did.

[donnachoe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this book and often found myself subconsciously smiling at the cuteness of the story. Lilly is the typical first child, who is often considered 'spoiled' and feels threatened by her new baby brother, who happens to be receiving all of the attention...until, someone else makes fun of her baby brother. That's when everything changes because ultimately, family is family and Lilly realizes this as well.

[kathryn123_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a story about Lilly’s baby brother Julius. His mother and father adored that baby boy and she cant stand him. She always thought that she didn’t get all the attention that she deserved so that’s why she is so mean to Julius and doesn’t want anything to do with him. She learns that even though she may not like him, he will always be her little brother.

[jmvarnad · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my favorite book of all time. Lilly is convinced that the arrival of her new baby brother is the worst thing that has happened in their house, until Cousin Garland comes to visit. She does not like Garland disliking her brother, so she make Garland adore him. Its a great book, its my favorite by author Kevin Henkes.

[madamepince · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love reading this book to kids! It lets me bring out my Inner Lilly.

[paigecostella · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lilly hates her little brother Julius. She thinks his nose is slimy, his small black eyes are beady, and his white fur is not sweet. Lilly tries her hardest to make Julius leave, but her parents keep telling her he isn't going anywhere. When they have a party and their cousin is talking bad about Julius saying his nose is slimy, his eyes are beady, and his white fur is not sweet; Lilly gets upset and takes up for Julius. Lilly tells her cousin that Julius is the baby of the world and makes her repeat it. This is a good book to read to children that are about to become an older sibling. That family will always be there for you, and even though you may think you hate them, really you love them with all your heart.

[brittjj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is great for children who are about to have a new brother or sister. It shows how Lilly is jealous of her new brother after he arrives. Many children feel that way after a new sibling arrives. This book can be used in the classroom under a sibling unit.

[alliecipa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lilly gets a new baby brother, Julius, who her parents call "The Baby of the World!" Lilly's excitement turns to jealousy as Julius is getting all of the attention now. After doing all that she can to bother him, she has a change of heart and loves him like the good big sister that she is! Children who have younger siblings can really relate to this funny story!

[jpeshke_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Julius the Baby of the World" is an another wonderful piece of work from author Kevin Henkes. It stars Lilly the mouse from "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse". It tells the familiar story of Lilly getting a new baby brother. Before he arrives, Lilly is a great sister and is excited to meet him but things change once he comes home. Lilly becomes jealous. This is a great story for a new big brother or sister. It is a great place to start a discussion about a new baby entering the family.

[ashley3919 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lilly's life changes when her baby brother Julius arrives. While her mom is pregnant, Lilly is so excited about her baby brother, but as soon as he finally gets here and she sees how much attention he gets her mind changes really fast. He does not do any wrong in his parents' eyes and Lilly can't understand why everyone loves him so much, until Lilly's cousins feels the same way about Julius. This makes Lilly's point of view change about Julius and they become best friends.This is a book is good for PreK - 3rd and a great way to help children cope with the fact they have a new baby brother or sister. It is good for individual reading and/or small or large group reading.

[kmsmith13 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very cute, well illustrated book. I probably wouldn't read this to my whole class, but if I had a student who had a new sibling I might pull them aside and read it to them. I could also send it home for the parent to read to him/her. It teaches the importance of being nice to your siblings. It also teaches older siblings how special it is to be the big brother/sister. It teaches that families must stick together and stick up for each other.

[conuly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lilly, like many children, finds her baby brother doesn't live up to the pre-birth hype. He steals attention from her is what he does.And she expresses this the way many children do - she uses her words. People claiming that their children never, ever, EVER use words like "hate" or "ugly" or "disgusting" either don't have four year olds (Lilly's approximate age), have blocked that age from their memory, are lying, are lying to THEMSELVES, or have the sweetest, nicest, most wonderful children in existence.The rest of us live in the real world where four is the age of the potty mouth. Gosh, if I go through a day without hearing "I'm NEVER gonna be your SISTER ever AGAIN" and "I hate you, you're MEAN!" and "You're UGLY and MEAN and I'm gonna PEE ON YOU!" I start feeling foreheads! And of course my two nieces love each other very much (heaven forbid I put one in time-out for antagonizing her sister, it's the other one who whines and tries to convince me it's unnecessary and sneaks around to hand out hugs behind my back!), but like all young children they have big emotions and limited means of expressing them. (Really, I'm just happy they use their words instead of their hands.)And of course they didn't pick up the words "hate" and "ugly" and "disgusting" from the book, they picked it up from other children and from us - who doesn't say, when they burn their toast for the third time in a row, "Ugh, I hate burned toast"? Who doesn't say, when their kid picks their nose at the table, "Ugh, that's disgusting, go wash off and don't do it again"? Who doesn't say, when they find a bug in the house, "Hey, an ugly bug! Let's put it outside!"? (Who really wants to limit their child's vocabulary and leave them hopeless when they start school?)So yes, this is a very realistic book. And the resolution - banding together to protect her brother from an outsider - is pretty realistic too, the surplus of mice notwithstanding. I definitely recommend it for any child in the suggested age range of 4 - 8.

[cgammerman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a great book to read aloud in class when someone in the class is about to have a baby sister or brother. I think everyone who has had a younger sibling can relate to this book. The pictures are great and the wording of the story is extremely clever. A great follow-up activity would be to tell stories about younger siblings and how the children had to adapt to the changes.

[nancystorm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lilly loves her soon-to-be little brother, Julius. That is until he is born and gets love and attention from everyone, especially her parents. Now he is a bother and Lilly plans and schemes ways for his demise. That is until her cousin voices her thoughts about Julius being disgusting. Now Lilly is Julius' protector and tells everyone, "Julius is the baby of the world". Great artwork!

[stharp_5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another wonderful book by Kevin Henkes. This book is a wonderful fantasy. The personification of the mice as a family makes it impossible for this to happen in reality. The plot of this story is truly wonderful and it makes it fun to read and relate to real life sibling rivalry. Keven writes in a way that makes it really fun to read and find out how the story is going to unfold.

[kidlitlist · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I intend to buy every copy of this book that I can find to distribute as gifts to first time older siblings. Wonderful and funny story about the lengths to which Lilly goes to to get rid of the wonderful Julius.