When I Carried You in My Belly is a new book by Thrity Umrigar, with illustrations by Ziyue Chen, about a mother’s tender experience of knowing that a baby is growing inside. The loving verse explains to a child that her mother’s care — and delight in her child — began before she was born.

When I carried you in my belly, I sang to you all day, in many different languages, I sang you songs of joy. And that is why you feel at home any place in the world.

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.