Tracy C. Gold

My adorable little debut board book, “Everyone’s Sleepy but the Baby,” is officially published as of today, April 13th, 2021.

Here is some amazing news: thanks to the generosity of my friends, family, and readers, I have had ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR preorders, which means I am donating ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FOUR books to babies in need via ShareBaby. *Update–the total number was actually 184 when I checked with the local bookstores!

Want better news? Well, the books come in boxes of 40. So I’m just going to round up and donate TWO HUNDRED books to ShareBaby! I’ll be back to update this post when I have pictures of the gigantic stack of books going to their warehouse. *Update: below is the stack of books plus some diapers we took over in my mom’s car, plus me with Amina Weiskerger, ShareBaby’s executive director, outside their warehouse!

Thank you so much to everyone who preordered, requested the book at their library, and helped spread the word. I am so happy to be helping two hundred families in Baltimore start their libraries.

Here is a darling book trailer to give you a sneak peek of the book!

You can buy the book wherever books are sold (at least online!), but here are some links to make it easy for you! I’ll be doing the rounds to sign stock at local stores in the coming weeks. Follow me on Twitter or Instagram to see where I’ve signed books! “Everyone’s Sleepy but the Baby” makes a wonderful baby shower gift book if you have friends who are expecting or have recently become parents.

The Children’s Bookstore, 4717 Harford Road in Lauraville (Baltimore, MD): order via this direct link for pickup or delivery.

The Ivy Bookshop, 5928 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD: order at this direct link for pickup or delivery.

National Bookstores

Amazon (affiliate link)

Barnes and Noble: Barnes and Noble allows reviews to be posted before launch, so you can see what a few early readers think of the book here! 

Familius: My publisher is offering a buy-one get-one 50% off deal as I type this only for books bought on their site (code: BOGOFAM)

Target

Walmart

Indiebound

Local Bookstores

Charm City Books, 782 Washington Blvd in Pigtown: preorder at this direct link for pickup or delivery (local delivery is free!)

Greedy Reads, 320 West 29th Street in Remington: preorder at this direct link for pickup or delivery

Greedy Reads, 1744 Aliceanna Street in Fells Point: preorder at this direct link for pickup or delivery

You should also be able to find the book online via the website of local bookstores across the country, or call/email your favorite store to order.

Well, publishing my debut in a pandemic has caught up to me. Due to shipping delays, “Everyone’s Sleepy but the Baby” will now be releasing on….record scratch…April 13th, not March 16th, and not the original date of March 2nd.

The GOOD NEWS is that I have more time to reach my goal of donating a few hundred books to babies in need via ShareBaby! (I’m at 140 right now, spread the word and help me get to 300??)

If you ordered this book for a baby shower or any reason that makes it a pain that it’s delayed, please let me know! I will likely get my author copies closer to the original date and might be able to help you out.

Details about preordering (and signed copies via The Children’s Bookstore!) here: https://tracycgold.com/preorders/.

When I was pregnant, I went to a friend’s baby shower, and she asked guests to bring a book instead of a card. At first, I was hesitant—weren’t books more expensive than a card? But then I found the wealth of baby books available for about the same price as a card (under $10, and in some cases under $5), and I knew I had to do this for my own baby shower, too! After all, it was so much better to have lots of books we’d use for years than a giant pile of cards we’d eventually throw out.

Now that my daughter is almost three, I am so glad I did this! We have so many books that are signed by friends and relatives. Every time we read them, we think of that person. This is something we will treasure for years to come!

So here are my 5 tips to have a great “bring a book, not a card” baby shower. 

I did a “Bring a Book, Not a Card” baby shower, and it was absolutely wonderful! Every time we read one of the books my friends and/or family members signed, we think of them with love.

Of course, the trick to doing this without coming off as greedy to your family and friends is to find a bunch of inexpensive books to put on your registry! The good news is there is a wealth of amazing baby shower gift books to include.

The following list was compiled on 2/10/21, and it is possible that the prices of these books have changed since then. But at the time of this post, they’re under $10! These are all affiliate links. I will likely spend my commission on buying more books! If you’d like a longer list with options at more price point, I have listed some of the best baby shower books regardless of price here. None of them should break the bank!

“Everyone’s Sleepy but the Baby”: shameless plug, I have to start with the book I wrote as an exhausted new mom!

“Nita’s Day”: A great way to learn sign language with your baby!

Oh my goodness, the art for “Everyone’s Sleepy but the Baby” is so darn cute, and now your kids can color some pages in themselves at home! (I mean, adults can too. It’s a super zen activity!) Adèle Dafflon‘s illustrations are so fun and baby-friendly, I’m thrilled to have them in this format!

To get the full-size pages to print at home, simply sign up for my email newsletter! I promise I don’t email too often; only when I have fun giveaways or big news! You’ll get a link to download the pages in a thank you email from me.

Meanwhile, here’s a sneak peak!

Thanks to Kapowza for the design help!

Since “Everyone’s Sleepy but the Baby” is a great book for new babies and baby shower gifts, and babies don’t do much coloring, one fun way to use these coloring pages would be for an older sibling of the baby who is receiving this book.

Remember, I am donating a book to ShareBaby for every book that’s preordered before March 2! Simply email your receipt to tcgpreorders@gmail.com. More details here.

Indiebound

Amazon

The Ivy Bookshop

Barnes and Noble

Workman Publishing

I will also donate a book if you request that your local library purchase a copy and let me know.

Books are amazing baby shower gifts! In fact, for my baby shower, I asked everyone to bring a book instead of a card (many board books are the same price as a nice card!). I put lots of books on my baby shower registry and my daughter has a wonderful library. Giving books as (socially distanced) baby shower gifts is an even better idea due to Covid-19, as many parents don’t have the same access to the library as before.

Full disclosure, I have two great books for baby showers that I wrote! There’s “Everyone’s Sleepy but the Baby,” which, come on, is guaranteed to get a chuckle at a baby shower (in my unbiased opinion). However, unlike another personal favorite, “Go the F** to Sleep,” this is a board book you can actually read it to your child. And there’s “Call Your Mother,” which is a bigger, hardcover book, that’s making reviewers tear up in a bittersweet way. (Affiliate links.)

But of course you need more than a couple books for a baby shower registry! Thus I’ve listed some of my favorite new baby gift books. My aim is to go beyond the classics everyone already knows about, like “Goodnight Moon,” because I got 4 copies of this when my baby was born! She’s enjoyed them all in different spaces in our house, but it’s nice to have variety.