Sweet Little You
A mother with a dream of having a child makes her wish come true by having a baby on her own. Tenderly written with beautiful painterly illustrations by Lisa Wee, Sweet Little You is a loving and unique story about a different path to becoming a family, showing that creating a cherished family doesn’t always involve two parents.
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About Sweet Little You
In this tender affirmation, the story’s new mother pens a love letter to her baby of how her child came to be and how she cherishes their little family of two. A precious and rhyming text shares the mother’s promise to help them dream, explore, and find adventure in life.
Two pieces are needed to help create you.
I had only one, so now what should I do?
Evocative of beloved classics such as Guess How Much I Love You, Pat the Bunny, and Love You Forever yet with a contemporary and diverse variation, Sweet Little You is for all of the intentional single parents who haven’t seen their own type of chosen family represented in a picture book that they can share with their child. The poignant story’s stirring and loving message is perfect as an affirming everyday read-aloud and also as a thoughtful and heartfelt gift for special occasions and milestones such as baby showers, new baby, birthdays, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day.
People are talking!
Sweet Little You by Joni Halabi is an inspirational children’s picture book about a mother sharing her journey of donor-assisted reproduction in a way that a child might be able to understand. [...] There is a happiness that washes over you as you read this story and you find yourself in awe of this family of two.
Erin Nicole Cochran, Readers’ Favorite
Sweet Little You is an adorable children's book that showcases a different type of family. It's written in an easy to read way, but is also a good way to open conversation with young readers about how some families don't always look the same as others. [...] This is a book I would highly recommend to all parents. 5 stars!
Jasmine J., Jazzy Book Reviews
This book teaches readers that family is about love and that it only takes a parent willing to love their child to create an adventure that is invigorating and life-transforming.
Jane Riley, The Book Commentary
Joni’s story is one we need in our bookshelves to promote diverse family structures and foster acceptance of single-parent families.
Kara Cybanski, DC Canada Education Publishing
With beautiful illustrations and the perfect colors, it was a joy to look at the pictures as I read the story, which to be honest is what a little one will be doing.
Sherry, The Book Review Crew
Must read!
Kameron Brook, Reedsy Discovery
The little bundle of joy was precious from their head down to their tippy toes.
Sweet Little You: An origin story
I am a single-mother-by-choice to a donor-conceived child. I am very open with my daughter about her origin story, because I want her to feel confident about our family structure.
We read every day and have a lot of books at home. I love our book collection, but I struggled to find a book that felt authentic to our family. Books explaining the process of sperm donation and single-parent families felt too clinical for a toddler. She just didn’t “get” them. Our “welcome baby” books were full of plural pronouns, typical of a 2-parent household. Those books are beautiful, but also inauthentic to our family.
This was the catalyst for my book. My book is a poem for babies and toddlers born to a single parent. It is a welcome from their parent, introducing their family structure and (very basically) where they came from.
I want this book to be a story where my daughter and I can see ourselves in the book. Feeling seen, especially when you are a part of something relatively “atypical”, is so important. Additionally, and just as importantly, I want this book to be an introduction to a baby about their family structure in such a way that they will never remember a “big reveal” about their family or how they came to be.