When I Carried You in My Belly by Thrifty Umrigar and Illustrated by Ziyue Chen #WhenICarried

The special bond between a mother and her child begins well before the baby is born. But once the baby is born and starts to grow into her own person, traits from both parents begin to show themselves in delightful and humorous ways. When I Carried You in My Belly is a mother's song to her growing daughter, capturing the warmth and magic of the time when her daughter was housed inside her belly. The girl's laugh, her love of music, her sweet disposition, and her carefree attitude can all be traced back to her time in her mother's tummy, when her mother would laugh, sing songs, eat yummy treats, and dance the day away.

Thrity Umrigar's lyrical and playful text are well complemented by Ziyue Chen's soft and delightful illustrations, and together they create a sentimental and insightful book about the special bond between parents and children. With a similar tone to On the Night You Were Born and the spirit of I Loved You Before You Were Born, When I Carried You in My Belly is primed to become a new timeless classic.

• Thrity Umrigar is the bestselling author of a memoir and six novels, including The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet, and The Story Hour. Her books have been published in over fifteen countries. A winner of the Nieman fellowship to Harvard University, she has written for the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and the Boston Globe. She is the winner of the Cleveland Arts Prize and was a finalist for the PEN/Beyond Margins award. She is the Armington Professor of English at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
  
  Ziyue Chen grew up in sunny Singapore and graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design with a BFA in illustration. Her work has been recognized in the 3x3 Picture Book Show (2014), SCBWI’s SI Scholarship (2013), the Society of Illustrators’ Student Scholarship Show (2013), and Creative Quarterly (2012). When she’s not creating art, Ziyue enjoys teaching art, swimming, and spending time with loved ones.

The 411:

I adore this book. The words and the illustrations. It speaks to my heart and I believe it is the perfect gift for first time moms as a Mother's Day or a Baby Shower Gift. In this story a mother loving relays to her daughter why stories of when she was carried in her belly and how it correlates with why she is the lovely child she is today.

"When I carried you in my belly, we fed kittens out of saucers, baked bread for our neighbors, and hung bird feeders on the trees and that is why you have the biggest heart in the world."

Beside these sweet, loving words and the cutest illustrations ever by Ziyue Chen which I couldn't help sharing with my Instagram followers last week. Gorgeous!

Some of the sweetest illustrations ever When I Carried You In My Belly

A post shared by Maria (@mgagliano5) on Mar 26, 2017 at 8:43am PDT

My children are 11 and 13 and still love hearing the stories of when I was pregnant with them. I just wish I was as poetic as Thrifty when I share with them.
 

You will find this in my upcoming Mother's Day Gift Guide and at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google, Indie Books or wherever books are sold.

To Purchase: Pre-order below

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary product for my honest opinion. My reviews are 100% honest and true based on my personal opinion not on a company’s description or request. I am not employed by any company I review for. No monetary compensation was received.