A Baby Sister for Herry

A Baby Sister for Herry (1984)

Written by	Emily Perl Kingsley
Illustrator	Richard Walz
Published	1984
Publisher	Golden Press
Series	A Growing-Up Book
ISBN	0307120112

A Growing-Up Book, A Baby Sister for Herry follows Herry Monster as he deals with rejection, from being overshadowed by a baby sister Flossie.

Two days after Herry's baby sister was born, Herry visited his mother in the hospital, and visited the nursery, where he saw his kin from behind glass. The baby arrived home a couple days later, finally named Flossie. Herry has a hard time accommodating his little sister, who cries when Herry makes noise playing with a toy fire truck, and is too young to play with him. The baby sister interrupts Herry and his father making a puzzle, and uses his old crib. Every weekend, friends and relatives would take pictures of her, and shower her with presents.

Once Herry reaches the pinnacle of frustration, saying "Everything for that baby is special!", he imitates Flossie, to try and regain some of the attention he lost to the newborn. He drinks milk from a bottle, ends up breaking the baby swing, and shook Flossie's rattle in the playpen, ending up in tears. His mother tries to comfort him, by showing him his own baby pictures. That evening, his father tells him that "being a big brother is a important job", and shows him how to give the baby her bottle, dress Flossie to go outside, and feed the baby. Later, Herry shows Cookie Monster how to make the baby laugh, and Bert tells Herry that his baby sister looks "exactly like you."

After walking the baby in the park, Mommy tells Herry "The baby is much too young for ice cream, of course. But we're not, right?"

Characters

Major

• Herry's mother
• Herry's father
• Herry Monster
• Flossie
• Herry's grandfather
• Big Bird
• Grover
• Sherlock Hemlock
• Bert
• Ernie
• Count von Count
• Telly
• Cookie Monster

Minor

• A taxi driver
• A nurse
• A Rubber Duckie
• Relatives of the family
• an ice cream vendor
• Betty Lou (on the cover only)

Trivia

• Herry Monster's family has a wooden chair with a beveled mirror on the back, with what appears to be two metal hat racks on either side.
• Herry's grandmother is referred to as a Grandmonster; it is unrevealed what Grandfathers are called.