Book Review: Near Mama's Heart

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

When Colleen Newman over at My Baby and More dropped me an email to ask if I was interested in reviewing her book "Near Mama's Heart" I happily said "send it over!" Since I had exclusively pumped for Elnora, breastfeeding was still a new experience in our house. Elnora had been fascinated by it from the beginning and sadly, hadn't really had the chance to be around many other nursing moms.

I had also just received Mama's Milk from Tricycle Press and she liked it, so it seemed like a great time to move on to a breastfeeding book that had photographs instead of illustrations.

The Lactivist Says: A heartwarming collection of breastfeeding photos

Pros:
Real photos of nursing mothers and their children
Cute rhymes talk about breastfeeding as a normal part of life
Shows nurslings of a variety of ages

Cons:
Paperback
Images of older toddlers nursing may turn some families off

When the book arrived I flipped through it fairly quickly smiling at the catchy rhymes and interested to see the wide variety of breastfeeding photos. From the touching image of a newborn baby nursing to some cute shots of older toddlers practicing nursing acrobatics, this book does an excellent job of presenting breastfeeding as something normal and natural for both babies and young children.

Proponents of child led weaning will love having the chance to share a book like this with their children. That said, it may not be the best book choice for more conservative breastfeeding families that are uncomfortable with the shots of older nurslings. (Then again, it could be a great way to introduce them to the beauty of the nursing child.)

I do wish that the book was available as a board book though. Elnora loves to take books to bed with her for her nap but she's not quite old enough yet to be trusted with paper books. (They mysteriously seem to end up with tears in them...) That said, we often read the book before nap time and she loves to point out the babies and the moms.

Near Mama's Heart is listed at $14.99 and is available online at Colleen's site My Baby and More.

Labels: Product Reviews

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