“Before…You were a song in our hearts, a star in our eyes.”

Told from the perspective of new parents welcoming their baby to the world, this touching love letter to young children by Governor General’s Literary Award–nominated author Deborah Kerbel describes with lyrical grace all of the promise held by new life. As the seasons change from fall through winter and into spring, the expectant parents’ anticipation over the baby’s arrival is mirrored in the animals around the family’s seaside home, marrying the natural world to the family’s experience.

Suzanne Del Rizzo, author-illustrator of My Beautiful Birds — a New York Times Notable Children’s Books selection and winner of the 2018 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award — adds an intricately tactile element with her lush illustrations rendered in polymer clay and acrylic wash, depicting the animals in scenes at times playful and other times serene.