Parenting Book Reviews

Table of Contents

Introduction

Pre-pregnancy Books

Pregnancy Books

Nutrition in Pregnancy

Pregnancy for Fathers

Baby Name Books

Birth guidebooks

Vaginal Birth After Cesarean

Infants & Toddlers

Breastfeeding

Sleep Problems

Child Rearing & Discipline

Preschool-aged children

Young school-aged children

Teenaged children

Learning disabilities and ADHD

Medical Information & Nutrition

Life Style Choices

Death and Children

Boys/Girls: "Gender" issues

Miscellaneous Books

Other Media

Sources & Acknowledgements

Paula Burch's Home Page


Other Media: Non-Book Sources Including Magazines, Videos, etc.

_Mothering_ magazine (ISSN 0733-3013), published quarterly. Subscription Office: PO Box 532, Mt. Morris, IL 61054; 800-827-1061; $22/year in US (as of Winter 1992).
_Mothering_ magazine is a great parenting resource. It's intelligent, compassionate and covers the complete range of parenting topics from a humanistic, holistic (in the best sense), natural point of view. Articles and letters are always genuine, accessible, and immediately applicable to real parenting, much like the best of misc.kids. Even the ads are great -- they run lots of ads from small companies selling alternative sorts of clothes, diapers and accessories, baby carriers -- all those baby and parenting things you need, but can't always find in stores.

Mothering magazine has advocated against vaccinations; this has probably led to unnecessary deaths among some of the children of readers who might otherwise have had their children vaccinated. For me, this sort of irresponsibility is a major problem, in spite of the pleasingly alternative character of the magazine. --Paula Burch

In its favor, it does offer a perspective on parenting and children that one might not find in other more mainstream magazines, and it does seem to have more editorial content and fewer ads per unit space, but there are some things about this magazine that I really do not like. The medical information can be outlandishly, frighteningly wrong, including some statements against vaccinations that were absurd. I was almost willing to believe they had some valid scientific argument against vaccination, but after reading some of the quotes from someone they call an expert, I find them completely non-credible. In general, I find the tone to be dogmatic and guilt inducing about the right way to parent (stay-at-home mom, attachment parenting, homeschooling...) A recent article on teaching a child how to ride a bike is a perfect example of why I won't renew my gift subscription. no real information offered that could actually help anyone else, just a touchy feely kind of essay about the emotions that a man had while teaching his son. Interesting and valid if you are looking for creative writing, but not what I am looking for (plus the use of a helmet was never mentioned, nor anything to do with teaching safe riding skills.) [And another one....]

I consider myself a hands-on, holistic mother. I had natural childbirth, nursed my babies for two years, carried them in a sling instead of a stroller, slept with them, and memorized _Siblings Without Rivalry_. BUT I also had them vaccinated, circumcised my son, used disposable diapers, and worked full-time outside the home. I soon got sick of Mothering's trying to make me feel guilty for my choices, and eagerly let my gift subscription lapse. Where do the editors get their chutzpah?

Parents

American Baby
Thanks to everyone who responded to my query about parenting magazines. Of the two I mentioned, Parents and American Baby, Parents won by a landslide. I also found out that American Baby offers a free six-months to expectant moms, which I don't think I'll refuse, since I've got nothing to lose. I'll probably get one issue of Parents, and subscribe if it's interesting. Of the responses I got, about half made negative comments about American Baby, and I don't think anyone felt it was better than Parents. Ironic thing is, the subscription prices are comparable (unless you're expecting, as I mentioned above). --Nancy Fisher Hansen [posted]

Parenting

Child
The two others most mentioned were Parenting and Growing Child newsletters. Parenting seems to be the alternative to Parents, and was cited by a few as being more intellectual and less conservative than Parents, but still more people preferred Parents, many saying that they had been reading it for years. Growing Child is not a magazine but a newsletter tailored to your own child's age. Sounds pretty neat... --Nancy Fisher Hansen [posted]

As for other magazines, I used to think that "Parents" was the only one, and it was useless collection of advertisements with a few content-free articles thrown in. But I recently was given a stack of "Child" and "Parenting" mags, and have found them to have interesting articles with real content, depth and coverage. Still lots of ads, I probably won't subscribe, but if you are looking for a magazine, these are worth thinking about.

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Last updated: March 2, 2003
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