OK - so, on a whim, I checked out a plethora of children's books on pregnancy and birth from the local library. I believe I checked out around 5 in all. Of all of them, I liked Dr. Sear's book the best (surprise surprise). It included the children in the process more than the others and didn't assume a mother would be birthing in a hospital setting. It shows mom being checked with a fetoscope and talks about the changing family dynamics more than the others I read.
It read like a children's story - not to complex, with lots of pointers on how to answer the 'inquisitive child's' questions. I only wish there were a DVD accompaniment to this. :o)
I would love to add this to my library. :o)
Dori Hillstead-Butler wrote a good book on pregnancy and birth that, unlike Sears' book, did a great job of explaining how a baby is made. The rest of it, though, I think was not as well done as Sears' book as, like all others in the Juvenile section, assumed a mom would be in a hospital, hooked up to an EFM, and in a gown. It reads somewhat like "WTEWYE" or "Your Pregnancy Week by Week".1
I picked up the Dr. Sears books when my oldest was 2 and we were expecting our second child (they are now 7 and 5). There is also a followup book called "What Baby Needs" that addresses skin to skin contact, breastfeeding (not even one mention of formula), babywearing, co-sleeping, responding to a crying baby quickly, etc. It was so perfect for us - it was as if they had come to our house and tailored a book specifically for our daughter based on our lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteWe also got "What Baby Needs" and we love it. The Monkey reads it to us all the time (in her own words, of course, she's not even 3 yet), and she totally gets it. This book was perfect for us too. And I almost didn't find it! I was at B&N looking for something like it, pulled four or five books off the shelf to check out, settled on one that was as close to our reality as possible and when I went to put the others back found this one!
ReplyDeleteI had a really nice book out from the library, about homebirth. It was Australian, I think, and was not 'this is how birth happens' but more like 'this is what it's like when your mom gives birth". The artwork was subtle and beautiful, and there were enough details to be imformative but not overwhelming. I wish I could remember the name! Something like "We Welcome You" or "Welcomed with Love"...
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