Julius, the Baby of the World

Henkes, Kevin. Julius, the Baby of the World. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1990.

Julius, the Baby of the World is a fictional picture book written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes. As in Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Henkes’ story focuses on a spirited mouse named Lilly. In this story, Lilly was an only child until her brother Julius was born. Although she imagined having a little brother would be fun and exciting, once he had arrived, she quickly changed her mind about being a big sister. She thought everything he did was disgusting and found every little thing about him to be appalling. Her parents would repeatedly say, “Julius, the baby of the world”, but Lilly thought the exact opposite and called him, “Julius, the germ of the world”. When Lilly’s cousin Garland came to visit and said the same things that Lilly had said about Julius, Lilly ended up sticking up for her brother and quickly changed her mind about him and said that Julius really was “the baby of the world”.

Throughout the story, the writing and illustrations are expressive and humorous, such as in one scene when Lilly was singing the alphabet in a very random order to Julius. Lilly’s exasperations and frustration are captured in the illustrations by the use of watercolor and ink which are framed and with floating dialogue boxes which extend the story.

All children with siblings, young or old, may have the same feelings and attitudes that Lilly has for Julius. The story truly hits home, and is age appropriate for anyone who has experienced having siblings.