My Brother Otto

My Brother Otto by Ingrid Laguna (Text Publishing) RRP: $14.99 ISBN 9781923058729

Reviewed by Rebecca Fung

Warning: This book should be read with a box of tissues handy.

My Brother Otto is the story of Quinn preparing for the arrival of a baby brother. We are introduced to the familiar emotions many families and prospective sisters would go through. Everyone's excited about the new baby to arrive, Otto. Mum and Alex are so interested in Baby Otto and Quinn feels sidelined. Why can't things stay the way they are? She doesn't want to share her room. She liked it better when they had time to care about her life.

 But this isn't a simple "jealous big sister" story. Otto is born prematurely and the family is thrown into turmoil when he struggles to survive. Otto will not come home immediately and must stay in the neonatal intensive care unit until he grows more. Quinn sees Mum and Alex's happy excitement turn to concern, tiredness and fear.

It's a journey that's emotionally tiring in what seems a simple story. Small moments like Baby Otto grasping Quinn's finger are amazingly powerful. Laguna has used her own experience with premature births to communicate a story about family, love, worry and loss that's authentic.

I liked how Quinn goes through many realistic stages of coming to terms with her brother's situation. She develops to become a great sister yet she's understandably upset by the attention Otto may take up and how taking care of him might change the life she's used to.

The story is told in language very accessible to children aged around 8 years and older. However accurate terminology was used that didn't seem patronising and added to the book's authenticity. The explanations for complications in premature birth were simple and well-targeted. The ideas and emotions introduced are deep and sensitively-handled. It's an ideal book for helping children to come to terms with difficult subject matter in families.