Children's Books

Books like this - Wizardology, Dragonology, The Wandmaker's Guidebook, and other "ology" books are the very thing a young person just starting to learn about magick and paganism needs to get started. Even a young adult (age 16-24) who is just getting their first lessons could benefit from books like these. They are very practical and well-written - much too well-written to be simply dismissed as books only suitable for children. I recommend all the books in this series to kids and adults alike!!

My grandson is an avid book reader but this book makes you slow down and check out all of the envelopes and hidden agenda within the book. Fun to read and watch the children read.

The book is veeery good, just like all the others in the '...ology' series, perfect gift for anyone. I love it! Lots of windows, and stuff to explore inside! GREAT!

I ordered this book as a Christmas gift for my mother, she is into all the fantasy type reads and such and it seems like a pretty good book for just some fun reading.

I love this book in fact my kids and I have read it together many times since it has arrived. I like that this book is easy to read so that my children can read it themselves if they want. Its also very interesting the way all the information is presented to the reader it almost makes you think you really can be merlins apprentice. Anyone who likes the medievel era would like this book, especially if you have children.

This book is a good introduction into the girl behind these amazing paintings and poetry. Her insightful artwork is reproduced well. This girl's visions and understanding of who God is and His heart of love for people of the world is astounding. (Especially when you consider her mom USED to be an atheist) The poetry is a little beyond me, but the art work speaks volumes.
Lovely. Keep up the great work Akiane.. your goal is being reached!

Akiane's story has always inspired me. I directed a friend of mine to her website recently to show her the amazing art, and she told me after surfing it that it restored her faith in God. When I read this book, it only accentuated my love and admiration for Akiane. You don't have to be religious to appreciate this girl. Her story is still a powerful message of how faith can change your life. If you're an art lover, you'll be inspired by the reproductions of her paintings and be stunned by her use of color and imagination. Her art is so realistic, but so mystical too. If you prefer the written word, read dozens of Akiane's poems. They are guaranteed to blow you away.

All in all, this book helps you remember that there is goodness in the world.

I got to meet Akiane in San Diego for a show. She is truly an inspiration. Her gift is enough to make a believer out of an athiest!

Very inspirational and faith building book. Akiane has not chosen this path, she's only following where God leads her. There are always going to be nay sayers about anything, specially in this world of instant information. I choose to believe that she is what she says she is, and does what she says she does, because with God anything is possible.

The first time I saw this book, I was on a cross country plane ride and had the fortunate experience of sitting next to a kindred soul. She shared this book with me to pass the time. And the time passed quickly. After looking at the paintings of this young artist, Akiane, I had a kink in my neck because I couldn't turn away. But it was worth it. I ordered the book immediately and have enjoyed sharing it with my daughters and displaying it on our coffee table.

Akiane is an artist and a poet and an inspiration. She believes she's been touched by God, and one look at her work will make you a believer as well.

From the author of A Line Between Friends and I'm Living Your Dream Life: The Story of a Northwoods Resort Owner.

The book is age appropriate and I read it before I gave to my 18 year old niece for her birthday. She wants to buy the whole set. She found it interesting to read.

Great teenage stories that draw students to want to read the book. I can't keep the series of books in my classroom. As soon as it's checked in it's checked out by someone else.

I recently purchased this book for my fourteen year old daughter, she told me it was a great book. In fact I am looking at purchasing more in the series. She said it was not too religious for her- she could relate with the main character.

Most book's about Christian teenage girls there life is perfect. Which in real life could never happen. This book is about a teenage girl named Catlin O'Connor. She is 15 years old and struggles with many things in her life. She goes from being a Christian just because her parents make her go to church every Sunday to really loving God and having a personal relationship with him. In the begging she wants to be popular and gets to be but after awhile she realizes that it wasn't how she had thought it was.
Well I don't want to tell the whole story so I will now give my opinion.
It sure wasn't a typical Christian book, it was actually better. I liked it because it was real. It was probably the best diary I have ever read.
I loved it. It actually reads like an teen was writing it. And the best
thin about it is that it is Christian.
This book is for Christian teens or preteens. Or if you want to become a
Christian. This is a really good book.

Caitlin O'Conner is a 15 year old girl who has a true best friend called Beanie Jacobs. Caitlin really likes a girl called Jenny who is a popular cheerleader. When Jenny suddenly wants to be Caitlin's friend, she ditches Beanie to be friends with Jenny. Caitlin realizes that Jenny's life isn't too good. Caitlin then has a crush on jock boy, Josh Miller who Jenny is dating. Caitlin realizes then that she needs someone more then being popular, Jesus. She begins to find out more about Jesus and makes most of her dating life but then she remembers about Beanie after she finds out about her dating life but she realizes it's too late for Beanie because Beanie is pregnant. You'll laugh and cry and realize, Caitlin is a true friend.

I could not put this book down! I got so caught up in this memoir, I couldn't wait to finish it. Then, when it was done I wished I hadn't read it in 4 days! It is filled with gut wrenching stories, sometimes so incredible it seems they can't be real. The part that takes place at Christmas was especially moving to me.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

a heart-wrenching true memoir that is almost unbelievable to imagine. how children can cope with the harshest

abuse,emotionally and physically, with a mother standing by silently shows what resilience the human spirit can endure. looking forward to the sequel"fierce"

I didn't know much about about this part of the United States..I have been reading more memoirs set there since I read this book.

I loved this book. It really touched my heart and evoked so many emotions in me, and brought me to tears more than once. Mostly, I wanted to reach right through the pages and hug Barbara and all her siblings. And her mother too. What strength and character each of them has shown. I am in awe and admiration of all of them. I loved how they really looked out for each other and protected one another: from the father, in school, in their neighborhood.

It is so sad that any children had to live like this, but I know many do. Blessings to Barbara and her siblings and I hope they have all healed from the trauma of their childhood and are enjoying much deserved happiness.

Oh, and it was wonderful to see Alice's review!!!!!

Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter is a powerful and poignant story of impoverished life as experienced by Barbara Moss.

Surrounded by poverty, alcoholism, abuse, malnutrition and facial deformities, Moss could easily have allowed herself to be trapped in that negative world. Instead, through determination and the kindness of a few strangers along the way, she rose above adversity and has been able to escape the clutches of childhood demons.

In 1996, Moss won the Gold Medal for Personal Essay in the William Faulkner Creative Writing Contest. Her winning essay became the first chapter of Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter. Her life, her determination, and her writing acheivements serve as an inspiration to the aspiring writer in me.

When I first read this book, I was working through the emotional impact of having undergone facial surgery to remove a malignant melanoma and recreate a nose. At the time of that first reading, I was more tuned into the parts of Moss's story which dealt so poignantly with the emotional effects of her deformed face and people's unkind reactions to that deformity. Her drive to find a way to resolve the situation was nothing less than admirable. Now that I am a few years beyond my surgery and have re-read her story, I find her desire to become Zeus's daughter (the goddess of beauty) pales in comparison to the beautiful person who writes this remarkable story.

With grace and insight, Moss takes us back in time to a place where life seemed to surely be waging war against her. In what she calls an effort to heal wounds and reclaim her family, she writes of both the challenges and the triumphs of childhood, adolesence and adulthood. Throughout the story, Moss interjects memories of a humorous nature - proving that even in the most desparate of situations, it is possible to find joy.

In what can only be described as a "wise beyond her years" approach, the ninth grade Moss wrote a list of eight things she wanted to do to improve herself. At the top of the list were "1. Remove moles on face, 2. Get braces on teeth, 3. Fix face." It is incredible that one so young would seize such determination and not let go until she had accomplished these seemingly insurmountable goals. Shortly after writing these goals, she began to act upon them. Her book reveals the ways she accomplished them. With remarkable insight, Moss writes about how each achieved goal created both negative and positive issues for her.

Moss's writing talent is evident in this deeply personal and moving story. Her gift to her readers is the lesson of redemption and grace in the midst of life's biggest hurdles.

by Lee Ambrose
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

This book is full of clear, common-sense talk, just the thing I needed when I bought it. Dealing with an aging parent can be tricky in the best of circumstances, and at worst can threaten the whole family structure. The level-headed advice in this book can help to keep things on track, and can help family members to develop the best plan for dealing with their particular situation, as it did with us.

I did a "speed-read" of the book in the 24 hours before a family conference. I did note a fair amount of repetition of ideas in the book, but that is not necessarily a bad thing: if you're reading just the chapters that seem most relevant, then that's where those ideas need to be mentioned. One bonus: reading the book made it clear to me that I need to be doing some elder planning for myself, and with my own children, to make things easier for them later.

"Am I doing the right thing?" Every adult child of a family member requiring eldercare asks this question. The Complete Eldercare Planner will help today's busy caregivers with medical, financial, and personal issues by condensing hours of research into a concrete plan of action. In one volume, readers will learn about emergency preparedness; how to tell when your elder needs help; talking about sensitive subjects; sharing the care; long-distance assistance; money and legal matters; health and wellness; insurance; housing; safety; transportation; maintaining quality of life; aging with a disability; death and dying; and more.

This carefully designed guide also presents material in an unusually accessible way, with dozens of checklists, step-by-step mini-planning guides, lists of low-cost/free resources, website index, questions to ask with places to write down answers, spaces to record elder's vital medial, financial, and personal information, and more.

7-22-05 -- Recently I found myself along with 3 other siblings and spouses thrust into new uncharted waters in a totally new season of our lives. Suddenly and without any training we were and continue to this day having to take care of my aging parents. I for one will freely admit that as a child I was never trained, prepared, nor exceptionally gifted to undertake such a task. It is just not the type of thing that you can ever really get to a line and say ready...set...go...and do it very well. Elderly health care in 2005 does not always afford us the luxury of any long preparation either emotionally or financially.

Suddenly unmercifully and usually without warning you hear over the phone in the midst of a busy American routine those words you dread. It's Cancer, a stroke, or replacement surgery, just minor or major operations which means weeks of homecare and hospitalization's, etc., You are suddenly no longer swinging a few bats warming up in the on deck circle there in safety at a bit of distance. But you find yourself thrust into the batters box. You are no longer the stand by just in case fill in player who dressed for the game just in case you would or might be needed. But suddenly with a phone call, you find yourself thrust without any prior warning into the batters box. You are to take charge with 3 others voices and votes, your parents primary healthcare.

Now, if you call a frantic call for "HELP" in the middle of the night when just the week before things were okay a warning, well then, you're doing better than we were. You find yourself suddenly up at the plate with bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the ninth your teams behind 3 runs. To top it off you're facing a 94mph fastball pitcher who also throws a mean slider called the reality of life. You have never been good at hitting these kinds of pitches. Much less being the homerun hitter the team needs at this moment and are all looking to you now for. Then you hear through your wife there is a book available on just such a thing. It allows you to calmly and logically check out all of your options. It tells you in simple language just how you go about walking through this difficult mine field you've been thrust into without training or any real prior warning. It tells you how to do this without losing your mind, your family unity, and most of all your parents dignity.

I found myself literally reading the pages of Joy's, "Elder Care" wonderful "How TO" book on the plane going headed to Florida. I was then going there for my Dad's 80th B-day party as well as a visit to help out for 10 days at my elderly parents. Little did I know then, that I would see those 10 days turn suddenly into 46 long and hectic days I ended up spending there. Little did I realize as I paged through this how to book on Elderly Care that it would be like a daily Bible to me. I was literally reading a chapter ahead of the events as they unfolded in the next days. It was giving me the answers to question I had not yet asked, but found myself doing so in the next days to follow.

As a former Eagle Scout, USMC SGT., Police Officer, Business owner, 20 years as a Lay Minister and being Happily Married to the same woman for over 26 years now, I'd received lots and lots of great training. Even you will have to admit that this background covers a lot of diversified and really good training. But nothing, absolutely nothing, but my Faith prepared me emotionally, physically, or all of us financially for the events that would suddenly and totally unwelcomed show up in the middle of the night. They just seem to attack you without ceasing on these issues when it's "Your Mom or Dad."

Thank you Joy, for the time it must have taken you and the wealth of information this book contains. I personally know that it was truly a Godsend at a time of crisis in our lives. It still today continues to guide us along these slippery slopes. But because of this well timed work of Mercy and Grace, we have maintained as a family, and continued to allow my parents their Dignity and somewhat their independence. I believe this book will help answer the question of the heart on elderly care and give you practical and timely information to steer you to through the minefields of elderly care life. You should have a copy on the shelf in your own homes and be reading it now, if your parents are near or reaching retirement age.

We waited and it caught us totally by surprise. But it didn't catch Joy by surprise...I personally believe that she was obedient to the Spirit of God to produce this work for a time such as this. Our generation will Thank Her one day I believe for her unselfish actions in writing this Elder Care "How To Bible" for the uniformed. The Word of God says that "...my people perish for a lack of knowledge..." I believe that this book is full of knowledge that will help us all in our moments of crisis and bring life and health to all who read it.

Thanks for listening to my lengthy review and a very special Thanks to You Joy. You just keep on writing Joy and we will keep getting filled with the great knowledge we all need and can practically use for our loved ones. God Bless you and again... Thank you from our families hearts to yours.

God Bless You,
David D. Spaulding

For those who have been, or will be, managing the health and financial welfare of your elderly parents, this book provides very helpful and detailed guidelines on how to do this with tact and compassion, as well as providing numerous resources. I ordered copies for all of my siblings. Best resource I found on the subject.

My mother in law needs so much care and we had no clue on what to do. We bought this book and we bought the 36-Hour day. We are completely sure now that we are making the right choices because of the tips in both of these books. I recommmend this book highly.

I do detest the ending however I don't think I'll spoil it for you but never the less still good story.

This entire Trilogy is just amazing. I was given a present of the first book when I was about 7 (10 years ago), and I immediately wanted the next two! I fell in love with Julian there and then, and was never able to understand why Jenny didn't just choose him! I've read these books over 20 times, and they're all falling apart. Everybody in the entire world should read them, because you're missing out if you don't. I highly recommend them. The last book is a nice finish, but it's incredibly sad. I wish it had ended differently! (...)

In the trilogy of the Forbidden game i thought that the first and third were the best books I've ever read, and although the second was good it didnt even compare to these. I thought the game was great but if I were jenny I'm afraid I would miss out on it because one look and a few words from Julian and I would run away with him straight away. The books were made to be so real that I'm still searching for my own door, call me sad but you have to admit if Julian wanted you, you wouldn't be able to resist!

This was the first LJS book I ever read and it awakened me. Never before had I realised what a book could truly do to a person. This, the final book of the Forbidden Game trilogy, really gives the reader an insight to all the characetrs. It shows how they have developed, especially Julian. It also brings out different feelingsof the main characetr, Jenny. She learns so much about Julian and learns to understand. This book is definatly the most important and is a wonderful way to end the trilogy.

This is my favourite book, only challenged by other of L J Smith's works. She is an amazing woman and it is well worth reading her stuff.

In the final book in The Forbidden Game Trilogy Jenny and her friends cross over into the shadow world to rescue Tom, her boyfriend, and Zach, her cousin. Once they enter the shadow world a new and even more deadly game begins because in this world, their nightmares are more real than ever. Trapped in a demonic carnival they are at the mercy of not only Julian, but all the other frightening creatures of the shadow world. Will Jenny and her friends all make it out or have they bitten off more then they can chew?

I was fairly pleased with the conclusion to the series although the ending was a bit disappointing. This is probably the most well written book out of the three. I nearly cried during some of the scenes. I was also happy that Michael got some character development at last. Actually the characters in general were handled very well, especially Julian. Besides the slightly disappointing ending, the only other complaint I have is that it was far too short. The first book in the series still remains my favorite but this one comes in at a very close second. I highly recommend this series.

A must-read to share with kids! Freight Train uses simple text and clear illustrations. The book can be very interactive for little ones: count the cars, identify colors, make "whoosh" sounds when the train is in motion and find the smoke from the steam engine. Perfect for toddlers!

I absolutely love this book! We checked it out all the time when I was young, about three to five years old, because I could not get enough of it. I loved the shiny pages, the bright, solid colors, and the different cars on the train. I'd forgotten, until I read the reviews here, that the book had words, but then, that's how I learned the names of train cars. I'm getting this book for my son.

My son loves trains, and he loves this book. I like the way it titles all the different cars, not being a train person myself it has taught me a few things. I like the concepts of the pictures being slightly blurred when the train is moving, b/c we match our train sounds to the speed as we;re reading. It's very delightful, it def deserved the caldecott medal.

My 6-month old loves to read and these pictures are perfect for babies. It's great that it's a board book so that we don't worry about the pages ripping.

This was my son's very favorite toddler book! The story is cute as it follows a train and also is great for teaching colors. Highly recommended!

I have read the 5 books of the series at least 10 times each, in German and in English, I am so fascinated with the story. The characters are absolutely captivating, and there is so much suspense and drama, you seriously can't put the books down when you start reading them. In the very first book, the little girl Ayla will capture your heart, as you go on this journey with her when she is growing up, and she turns into this beautiful and intelligent woman - i bet about every male reader would love to be with her and get to know her, whereas female readers will envy her and want to be like her. But it's not just her, all the characters have so much depth to them, and it is so easy to picture them in your mind, as they come across as very real. I grew to love each and every one of them, including all the animals as well. This is a great story about love and friendships among people & animals, and a story about survival in harsh conditions and encountering and fighting enemies. A story about a time when great discoveries and inventions were made, a truly fascinating era.
This is my favorite story of all times, and I know I will read all the books again someday. So if you are just bored and are looking for something very good to read - this is it! Too bad the fourth and fifth books - The Plains of Passage & Shelters of Stone - aren't included with this package, but I guarantee most people who pick up those books and read them will probably read them as well, since it is an ongoing story, and you can't wait to see what is going to happen next. I can't wait for the last book to come out... hopefully that is going to happen soon.

Unfortunately, I read them so long ago, I'm not sure I would want to read the next one because I have lost track of the story lines by now.

Each book does as promised, stand alone, and also as part of the larger story it melds into a great whole. I waited impatiently for each book as it came out, and because of the many years wait for The Shelters Of Stone, I was somewhat dissappointed in the book, because in my opinion all it really did was do a further buildup for the final book in the series, and I am so afraid that there will be another extended waiting period and let-down, but over-all I have to give the series a huge thumbs up and say that this series is definately part of my "Keeper" and "Re-readable" list and is now part of my personal Library.

the clan of the cave bear lay around our house for several years. i passed it by many times thinking it would not be my kind of book. at last due to the urging of my wife i began to read clan of the cave bear! from that time until i had completed all five of the books in the earths children series,i absolutly could not put them down.i have read many book series. but never have i been carried away so by an author.the depth of auels research will pull at a very primitive and forgotin place in your being.however i must warn you! when you have completed the series thus far the knowledge of the as yet unwriten or at least unpublished climax to this series will leave you feeling incomplete!! so please Miss Auel finesh the series soon

The author planned to write six books in the Earth's Children series, and I hope she sticks with the plan. However, I wanted to answer the question about which everyone seems to be confused--the fifth book. Its title is **SHELTERS OF STONE** ... . Anyway, the first four books are not only completely absorbing plotwise, but Ms. Auel's obvious research into the history of the periods about which she writes adds to the value of reading her books. Don't wait! Read the first four as soon as possible--at least in time to get a copy of her unpublished paperback.

I can't believe I missed out on this one as a child... but it's just as good coming to it as an adult. The perfect lazy Sunday afternoon book to read. Adults can also escape to the wilds of Lake Windemere (Lake District), to sail up the Amazon, do battle with pirates and search for buried treasure on Cormorant Island.

The year is 1929 and story is about four children - John, Susan, Titty and Roger (in age order) - who are holidaying on the shores of Lake Windemere with their mum and baby sister, Vicky. The children are an adventurous lot and love sailing in their boat, the Swallow. Towards the end of their holiday they persuade their mum to allow them on an adventure for a week. They're allowed to sail across to the island not far away and make camp there by themselves.

This is a great adventure for these intrepid explorers. They discover a retired pirate, camp, bathe in the lake, fish and cook for themselves, and are threatened by a rival group of bandits, the Amazons (otherwise known as Nancy and Peggy). All in all a great week of fun and adventure is had by all - brilliant to read about, although there are very few children who'd be allowed to do this now! Inspired by the author's own childhood holidays at the south end of Coniston in the Lake District.

This wonderful book was written about 75 years ago, but is still extremely popular today. It is ageless. I first read it as a nine or ten year old and have read it several times since then. The last time I read it I was in my late 50s or early 60s. Every young person should enjoy it immensely as a fictional story. But there are many moral and ethical issues that are slyly inserted into this novel. The biography of the author and how he came to write this book, which was the first in a series of 9 or 10 novels, is a fascinating story in itself.

The Swallows and Amazons series was one of my favorites when I was a child. The story, set in the Lake District of England where Wordsworth and other great poets grew up, is a gentle adventure tale about children camping out on an island and rigging a little sailboat. It is slower paced than children are used to today. But I think a sensitive boy or girl would find it reassuring that the children solve their own problems of navigation etc.

While it didn't bother me as a child that the language was distinctly British, as I'd been prepared by the Winnie the Pooh stories, and Wind in the Willows, I would recommend Swallows and Amazons as a bedtime story to be read aloud by an adult reader. The reader could then explain the language. A map of the UK would help too, as the story is set in the Lake District.

An adult storyteller might be interested in a biography of the series author, Arthur Ransome, who led an adventurous life - including work in the Soviet Union and marriage to a Russian woman.

Enchanting
It's hard to explain what makes this book so charming: The writing, the way the children and their relationships with each other are shown so clearly and believably, the very real adventures they have, the sense of place....but listing those traits doesn't do the book justice. It's also really funny in places! Ransome creates a world that is clearer and lighter and more enchanting than the one most of us live in -- but he's also written a realistic book. The Lake District DOES look the way he describes it, and there could be children like the Swallows and their friends the Amazon pirates.

The books are for all ages, and I think they are also inspiring and a good influence! They make me want to have adventures -- and they encourage parents by example to let their children have them. The parents in the books are responsible, teach their children well -- and allow them to adventure on their own. They can do that because they've taught the children to have good judgment and be responsible.

Arthur Ransome's own favorite in the series was WINTER HOLIDAY, which I also loved. Once the original characters leave the series, it loses its interest (for me, anyway) -- children who enjoyed the first books will also probably like Blow Out the Moon by Libby Koponen and all the E.Nesbit books.

About 60 years ago I read as many books from this series that I could find in my local public library. I had passed through a phase of devouring the Dr. Doolittle fantasy series (so damaged by the motion pictures using that title - how could they cast tall lanky Rex Harrison in the role of a short cuddly grandfather-like figure?) Another series in which, as an American boy fascinated by warplanes during the Worl War II era - I went on to become an aerospace engineer - I was enthralled, was "A Yank in the RAF", which I don't think would translate to the 21st Century very well. But the series that made the most impact on me was Ransome's Swallow family. As with Hugh Lofting's Doolittle, the author's drawings enhanced the books.

I have not visited there yet but I plan on touring Britain's Lake District (I don't think I was cognizant of where the tales took place, except I knew the children were British. They liked to drink ginger beer; in the US we had a ginger ale drink, but not ginger beer and I was curious to have some.) I have long wanted to live somewhere that would allow me to experience the thrill of mastering the small sailing boats of the story. The closest I came was living near the Pacific in California and near the Potomac River. But the boats in those regions were larger and not terribly accessible. I did go sailing with friends and tried to sail on my own in a marina with a rented boat (a too narrow and crowded venue for a novice just learning to tack and unfamiliar with how to dump wind from the sail when being carried in the wrong direction.) I have gotten to taste ginger beer. I have also used the children's means of including coded messages in their letters in the form of dancing stick figures around the page's margin (the secret was to ignore other parts of the figures and concentrate on the positions of the arms, which were standard semaphore code.) I introduced the code to one of my daughters when we were in the "Indian Princesses" organization. (Is the name and programs of that organization offensive to American Indians? I'm sure its founders weren't sensitive to the fact that American Indians still existed.)

I will introduce this series to my precocius 6 year old grand daughter when I think she is ready.

This book is great for anyone who is pregnant or has young children. Catherine Newman is great. She has this amazing way of taking all those tedious tasks we perform as parents and making them hysterical. She also reminds us what a blessing our little ones really are. I borrowed this book from the library, but I just had to have my own copy. I recommend this book to all my pregnant family members and friends!

I am seriously not even half way through this book but it has made me laugh to the point of almost falling off the exercise machine! I had to give it FIVE stars right away!

Plain and simple it is a great truthful look at parenting one and than two kids. My husband told me I like this book so much because it is my voice written down - my thoughts, worries, parenting guffaws, etc... I love that I can laugh at her (which really means I am laughing at me) and I know that I am not alone in how I feel and do things at times. Personally, I need that and I love when I run across things that help me to feel that sense of there are others out there like me!

I think that if you take this parenting job TOO seriously it will put you in the mad house and the people that wrote not so great reviews are missing the point which is that parenting is funny and tragic and worrisome; scary and soul searching, a growing up of sorts. This is not a HOW TO be a parent to a 2nd child book - they have those out there, buy those not this one for that stuff. This is simply just a look into a world that many of us live but do not write down (or cannot write down in such a humorous, truthful way!)

Thanks for such an awesome book from a mommy due with her 2nd in August!

A great read for any parent! Fast, funny and authentic, this memoir about the arrival of baby number two captures the mingled joy, turmoil and uncertainty of parenthood. Newman's writing is clear and lively, and her account is both realistic and reassuring.

Waiting for Birdy has become one of my favorite books, and one I always pass along to new and expecting moms of second children. Her self-deprecating humor, love for her family and friends, and constant work to seek balance in her life are funny and life-affirming. Sometimes we feel like we are all alone when we have ambivalent or conflicting feelings about motherhood--Catherine feels like a warm, witty, wacky friend that shares those feelings with you.

Read this book like you eat a bar of Valrhona chocolate . . . a tiny bit a day, so you can savor the complex flavors of each bit more fully -- and make it last longer.

This book has humor and insight, but more than that, it reminds me of what is really important about parenting; reminds me to be mindful of the wonderfulness of it all, and not to let the worries and frustrations of the immediacy of parenting obscure the deep love and joy (and humor) of the body- and soul-changing job of being a parent. Like Catherine's columns, nearly every section in this book makes me laugh *and* cry and need to go kiss my little boy one more time before I go to sleep. One warning: it's tough to read if you're expecting; I'm not kidding about laughing AND crying, when you're already all hormonal and your husband already thinks you're crazy . . . (just make him read it too; he'll see!)