Book Review: Take Two!

Since the twins were born, I have been collecting books on twins. While I haven't kept all of them -- bye bye twin pregnancy books! -- I do love picture books about twins, and we have a few really great ones, some of which I will show you here in future posts.

About a week ago, I received a copy of a new twin book, Take Two! A Celebration of Twins by J. Patrick Lewis and Jane Yolen.

The book, which is published by Candlewick Press, is a collection of poems categorized by different subjects: "Twins in the Waiting Womb," "Twinfants," "How to Be One" and "Famous Twins." There are numerous poems in each category, and it's likely there will one there to describe any set of twins you know, whether it's a mischievous duo or a loving pair, double trouble or double blessing.

The poems are as much for mom and dad as they are the twins themselves, and in this house, Big Girl got the biggest kick out of the book. I think she read it from cover to cover, but she's so proud of her twin siblings you would think she gave birth to them herself! She loved many of the poems in the 72-page hardcover book and read many out loud to all of us.

Here's one that definitely spoke to me!

Be Even More Careful

You wished for a singleton; now you've got two:

A single in pink and a single in blue.

You wished for a family; that's not a crime.

You wished for a family -- but not at one time.

The book is charmingly illustrated by Sophia Blackall with colorful, adorable, sweet illustrations of twins, in both boy/boy, girl/girl and boy/girl combinations, in all ages and stages. Moms and kids may recognize Blackall's artistic style -- she is also the illustrator of the Ivy & Bean books, which Big Girl has loved and read more than once.

Take Two! is not just poems and pictures, however; the authors chose to include little twin facts which are on the bottoms of several pages throughout the book. It was interesting to read many of them, including one particular snippet about a long-ago Russian woman with 16 sets of twins... Seriously? God bless her!

Take Two! would make a charming gift for new moms of twins, who might need a chuckle during those long days of feeding, bathing and diaper changes; or to give multiple-moms-to-be as the start to a nursery's twin library.