She Come Bringing Me That Little Baby Girl was published by J.B. Lippincott in 1974, with illustrations by John Steptoe, and was among the first picture books to honestly address sibling jealousy from a young Black boy’s perspective. Kevin wants a baby brother — someone to play ball with, someone to roughhouse with — and his disappointment when his mother comes home with a girl is intense and immediate.
Greenfield refuses to resolve Kevin’s feelings with false cheer. The book takes his disappointment seriously, lets him work through it at his own pace, and arrives at acceptance not through adult moralizing but through Kevin’s own observation: the baby is small, she needs protection, and perhaps there is something good about being the big brother after all. The resolution feels earned rather than imposed.
John Steptoe’s illustrations — warm, intimate, rendered in rich earth tones — complement the text perfectly, capturing both Kevin’s sulky resentment and his gradual softening. The collaboration between Greenfield’s spare, musical prose and Steptoe’s expressive art created one of the landmark picture books of the 1970s.
Collecting She Come Bringing Me That Little Baby Girl
First edition (J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1974): Hardcover with dust jacket, illustrations by John Steptoe.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $50–$150
- Later printings: $5–$15