Oh, Brother... Oh, Sister!: A Sister's Guide to Getting Along

by Brooks Whitney Phillips, Brooks Whitney

An especially great parent buy, this book is full of ideas and talking points for handling the ups and downs of sister-and-brotherhood. Inside there are tips on teasing, tattling, fighting, as well as playing and staying close as a family. "Super sister extras" in this book include photo frames, door hangers, and a "Sibling Constitution" that encourages siblings to agree on their rights and responsibilities as they strive to "create a more perfect relationship and a happier home." And what parent could resist that?

Genres: Childrens

61 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Brooks Whitney Phillips was born and raised in downtown Chicago. She attended Franklin College Switzerland where her studies focused on European art and literature before transferring to the University of Denver. Upon graduation she spent three years working in public relations & advertising until deciding to pursue a career as a freelance writer. She was a long-time contributor to the Chicago Tribune for whom she wrote a weekly-syndicated column and feature stories focusing on music and the arts. She has published six children’s books for the popular American Girls collection as well as been a columnist and feature writer for their magazine, American Girl. She has also published two books with Scholastic and served as Assistant Entertainment Editor for CompuServe’s online publishing division. Brooks has lived in Key West for twelve years and is busy raising a young family, contributing stories to Coastal Living magazine, and finishing a novel—this one for adults!

Reviews

[Pollyor]

Real life examples of sibling issues and how to solve them. And, how to build stronger bonds between you and your siblings. I have a 1999 edition, so it is a little dated - CDs, disposable cameras, and celebrities today's kids won't be familiar with.

[Mia Giarritano]

I really liked this book. American Girl gives some great tips on managing all different kinds of things. I have a sister and she is older than me so I bet we can both relate to this book. It was fun to read and take all the quizzes.

[Jessica]

American Girl has some pretty useful books and this is definitely one of them. It goes through every aspect of sibling relations that you can think of. Not only does is describe the different relationships but it allows you to figure out how you interact with your siblings. I really like that this is an interactive book. There are quizzes that the reader can take. There are charts describing different aspects of being a brother or sister. There are even stories written by other children about their siblings. This book doesn't only focus on the good things about having siblings; it helps you work through the hard things as well.

[Rebecca Murphy]

With descriptions of relationships to family members, a "how well do you know..." quiz, descriptions of behavior according to birth order, and other things to positively view the sibling relationship, this book is great! It promotes developing relationships with one's siblings and finding joy in differences. It also promotes the idea that family is not always related by blood, but everyone is important and special in our lives. This would be a wonderful resource for siblings who need a little help getting along and understanding each other.

[Kim Bennett]

The story plot of this book is very relatable. Any child who has siblings has had a situation where they have not gotten along. The other main thing that struck me was the colorful illustration. It grasps the attentions of the readers, and the pictures were fun to look at. The story offered solutions to issues between the sibling rivalry. I would offer this book as a fiction option for a beginning level reader.

[Natacha Okazaki]

Loved this book!! Read it to my kids and it opened good opportunities for discussions. We have used some of the suggestions given in the book and they work well.

[Julianna]

An interesting book with nice information and stuff it got kind of boring and all I could think as I read it was "what kid would actually read this?"

[Hailey Stanley]

It was very helpful to me as a big sister and I'm still using it!!!!!:)

[Kim]

Sharing, taking turns