Infants Books

Hi, when I heard about this book, I said I worked so hard with parenting links on my online Baby to Toddler store, when this book would be also a great resource too. Every new parent should have it by their computer-side! The thing is, new parenting sites happen all the time, so don't be complacent, buy the Next Addition(s) too, if you can*! or visit regularly the Publisher's website to see the New sites to be Listed in the next addition!
* My experience it sells pretty quickly! ...

If you have a baby, or need to purchase baby items, or need information about babies, then this is the RESOURCE to get it from. Gretchen Nalley has carefully placed all the websites that pretains to babies, from baby gifts, to parenting to care of baby and everything in between. A quick reference guide to take you to where you need to be without having to search and search. Thank you Gretchen for a job well-done!

I am one of the unfortunate ones who had their kids too early for this book, if only it had been around when they were younger. But that hasn't stopped me from buying this book - I have given it as gifts! The time saved in not having to search the web for the websites & information that is in this book is invaluable for parents that already find their time at a minimun with the demands of a new baby.

This is a must have!

Never has a book been more useful! This directory is a parent's dream. Have you ever looked up "baby" in the yellow pages? There sure isn't much there. My only regret after buying The Baby Web is that it wasn't available with my first two kids! I love it, and the pictures are adorable! No new parent should be without The Baby Web (I keep mine in my purse!).

Everyone knows that the Internet is a great resource for information and a great alternative to traditional catalog shopping. Unfortunately, weeding through literally millions of sites can be both time-consuming and frustrating. Since time is a precious commodity when you have young children, getting someone else to do the weeding is a welcome shortcut, and that is what this book delivers. Think of this book as the yellow pages for baby websites.  The 1,200 sites are listed by category and also in an alphabetical index. Categories include: Announcements, Baby Care Products, Baby Gear, Baby Names, Bedding & Furniture, Clothing, Food & Feeding Supplies, Gifts and Gift Baskets, Health & Safety, Parenting Advice, Pregnancy & Breastfeeding, and Toys. Many of my favorite sites were listed, and some new ones that I have since bookmarked.  This book is a great starting point for a new parent or someone new to the web, but it is also a good resource for anyone interested in finding new websites for parenting tips and products on the Internet.  There are a couple of sites that I probably would not have included if I were making a list since they offered only one or two items or were intended for dealers rather than consumers, but out of 1,200 sites that's a pretty good track record.  You will need access to the World Wide Web and a basic understanding of navigating the web to get the full benefit of the book, although many of the sites listed also include a customer service phone number.  --Reviewed by Teresa Burgess

This baby book was simply delightful. It has the cutest illustrations,and very unique content. A must buy for any African, or African-American home.

My sister brought this book as a shower gift back in 1999. I just had my second child in January 2003 and was so delighted to find the same book still available at Amazon.com. I did not want any other book for my baby but this one. It is so unique and the only one I've seen geared towards African-Americans. There's also a little lullaby inside that I sing to my kids. A friend is having twins and I just ordered 2 more Baby's Roots books that I know she will cherish as well. I recommend this book because it will be a "unique" treasure ones children will have when they get older and look back at their childhood.

The Baby's Roots memory book was a baby shower gift from a friend. I liked it so much that I returned other memory books that I had purchased for my baby. The soft colors, graphics and especially the African American pictures of sweet little babies are what made this book so attractive. I wish there were a series of other baby products by Debbie Bell Jarratt with similar designs (such as baby keepsake boxes, photo albums, etc.) I'll give it as a gift to other mother's to be.

I purchased Debbie's book for myself five (5) years ago and loved creating and recording facts/pics for my daughter. The book will serve as a time capsule of information that highlights her heritage and family. I have given three of these books as gifts to expecting mothers. Believe me, it's not your typical baby book.

Thanks Debbie.

Ciao!

Trinice Speight-Moses
Willingboro, NJ

I have been searching for this book since the birth of my daughter 5 months ago. I received this book for my son three years ago and I have enjoyed it from the start. I think everyone who has achild or know someone with a child would really enjoy this book for years to come. It brings so much joy to take out the book and going through the sayings and quotes with my son. I am looking forward to doing the same with my daughter.

What a delight to share in the love and the pain as the families of these preemie-babies struggle with the issues of our time. What a wonder to have a peek, not inside the womb, but outside, as these babies continue development that is normally hidden from the world.

There is nothing weak in the love of parents who spend weeks at their baby's bedside, reaching through tubes and machines to assure a little one he/she is loved. There is nothing callous in a doctor spelling out the almost insurmountable obstacles a baby must overcome in order to survive.

Intensive care neonatal units are places few of us will ever see. Healthy children are a blessing most of us take for granted. Yet this book takes us into the lives of several families, with all the drama of repeated life-and-death crisis. This book lets us feel the pain, and the joy; the frustration and the wonder. It confronts us with the questions. It does not preach, yet dependency on God breathes from its pages. These infants, so astonishingly small, are precious and wonderfully made.

This is a book you'll want on your shelf. You'll find your eyes overflowing at times. You'll find yourself sharing pain too deep for words. You'll also find yourselves lifted with a sense of wonder at the Majesty of God's handiwork.

There need to be more books like this one. An important topic like prematurity needs more attention.

Dail R. Cantrell was recently nominated for a Book of the Year award for Equal to the Task, one of the best books on the subject ever written. This book is a good companion.

My daughter spent 90 days in the NICU unit at our local children's hospital. It was the most difficult and most joyous time of our lives. Fortunately, our story had a happy ending and she came home without needing medication or reliance on medical equipment to eat or breathe.
I came across this book about two weeks into our NICU stay. It gave me hope in that it expressed many of the thoughts and feelings that our family was going through, and describing the unique intersection of parents, neonatologists and premature or critically ill newborns that make up the NICU. (It was also difficult to read with my child being hospitalized at the same time)
I really enjoyed a brief essay in the last chapter of the book about perseverence. Every parent of a child in NICU should read that last chapter. It was very affirming to me in light of how tiring (and rewarding)the experience of being present each day with your child in the hospital can become. The experience is emotionally draining, and a parent will experience hope and fear and discouragement, and many times will wonder where they will get the energy to interact with the medical staff, learn the medical terminology and interact with the different personalities of the nursing team, and be able to deal with the incredible emotions that are generated when they receive medical updates on their baby. Parents need a lot of affirmation.
I also recommend this book because the stories of the newborns are well written. You will laugh and cry and become attached to all the babies and their families. I bought a copy for the library at the childrens hospital where our daughter was treated. This book would be appropriate for parents of critically ill newborns or for those who love a good story. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I thought this book was wonderful. It helps people who have never experienced life in the NICU get a glimpse of it. I have quadruplets and all 4 of my babies went through the NICU at Chidren's Hospital in Minneapolis. Dr. Ronald Hoekstra took care of my babies and he is as wonderful as the stories in this book make him sound. It is very difficult and hard to explain what life is like in the NICU and this book does a marlvous job of conveying that. I have given this book to many friends and family members to help them understand what I went through.

I loved this book. I often read and the gym on the exercise bike and my mind will wander. Not with this book! I was engrossed with the stories and tears came to my eyes often as these people of faith go through very challenging times. Although written to partially explain how the Christian faith of these parents and some of the staff helped them through their individual ordeals, it was not offensive. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the wonder of new life.

These designs are adorable. Wish I had found this book years ago. Highly recommended!!

This book is a joy of patterns that are new and different. Not the same old afgan type sweaters and blankets.

I couldn't decide which one to make first.

I was looking for a pattern for a little girl's crocheted dress, and found the perfect one and more in Candy Crochet. The designs are GORGEOUS. Some (ok most) crochet clothing seems cheesy, which is why I've stuck to blankets in the past, but these are some seriously wearable designs, and just amazingly beautiful. Plenty of designs for boys too. The instructions are excellent, and the photographs of the finished products are helpful.

I love this book! So many cute things for babies and toddlers--girls and boys! The first thing I made I used the yarn used/shown in the book, but I would suggest using more readily available, less expensive yarn when able. I had to order the shown yarn via the internet as it was the only place I could find it, and it was very costly.

I have made a number of items from this book - the granny square hat with earflaps and the matching vest, a cardigan (I think you call it a jacket in America), and two dresses. I always find Candi Jensen's patterns are completely accurate and reliable, and the finished item looks EXACTLY like the picture in the book. The guages are spot on and as I am in Australia, I can't always find her recommended yarn but have never had a problem with substituting - you just must make the time to do a couple of swatches to get the guage right. I would rate myself as an experienced crocheter, but I have used her patterns when teaching friends how to crochet and one friend made the cute little boys striped t-shirt and another friend made one of the simpler boy's vests and they also did very well and were thrilled with the results. So if you want a book that is easy to follow and offers plenty of patterns to choose from from beginners to advanced, this is the book for you. The selection of truly adorable outfits are outstanding, and the baby blankets are just fantastic. I have alot of crochet books for children and this is by far my favourite. Will suit you for both boys or girls - some of the best corchet patterns for boys I have seen, and the girls dresses are really pretty.

The authors use of diction in juxtaposition with his syntax creates a linguistic reality all religious people should worship. Amelie shines with luminous beauty creating a colorful rainbow in her novel, The Character of Rain, as the stunning end becomes more rewardfull than any pot of gold. I recommend all fall to their primitive desire to make sense of this world, and worship the rain, because it can be incredibly refreshing after many a dry book.

I have to believe that it was the publisher, and not the translator, who took the wonderful (and easily translatable)title of the French edition and turned it into something that sounds like the title of a police procedural (set in Seattle starring Andy Garcia, that you would avoid if you were to stumble past it on HBO), rather than the original and beautiful thing it is.

This is one of my favorite books. No summary will do it justice.

I went back to the re-read the French edition (currently known in America as "the freedom edition") and found that the important chapter about the character of rain appears two thirds of the way through the book and it is NOT central. The discussion of tubes at the beginning and end of the book (as related to the godlike infant/narrator and to her pet koi) are the meat of the story.

This is a pet peeve of mine (or more correctly, a black beast [bete noire] of mine). Why the prejudgement among American publishers that their readers will react violently against philosophy? Thank god they didn't spot the Kierkegaardian echoes in her "Stupeur et Tremblements" or they would have found something different than "Fear and Trembling" for the American edition. It's not just here and with Scholastic's change of the Philospher's Stone to the Sorcerer's Stone either; there is a general dumbing down of titles when they cross the Atlantic.

This wonderful book deserves its real title.

The translation of this book into English has been done extraordinarily well and there is seemingly no loss of nuance and feeling in the strangely compelling storyline.

The child protagonist is a mere tot when she starts to tell her story but in the beginning we are treated to her creation when she was a "tube" "a plant" "a vegetable" bought into life by sweet white chocolate and her Belgian Grandmother's hand. Now we all know the best chocolate comes from Belgian and whether the author meant us to realise this (somehow I think she did) we are drawn into the strange world of a child who has the mind of a little God but has the body of a baby girl. She can talk before she is two years old but for a long time she hides it from her family, but fluently speaks Japanese to her favourite Nanny Nishio-San whose simple outlook on life lets her accept without real question this anomaly.

At first the characters in the book are one dimensional, the "little God's" parents and older siblings nothing more than card-board cut-outs but slowly with the turning of each page, everyone gradually comes to life, the two Japanese Nanny's are my favourite characters, one good and loving toward the "little God", the other arrogant and contemptuous of her European ward, all in all a complex relationship between various people and various levels of the mind.

The book ends with the "little God" making a serious attempt to take her own life, she wants to die, and she wants to leave the world before she looses all her "Godhead," but she is saved and in being saved she is lost.

This is a kind of Paradise Lost for the modern world and I would highly recommend it but only for those readers who like to read strange books like myself.

"In the beginning was nothing, and this nothing had neither form not substance -it was nothing other than what it was." I read the opening sentence of Amélie Nothomb's, The Character of Rain (Métaphysique des Tubes), and was hooked. I was not disappointed. Using a Japanese belief that children are gods until age 3, at which time they fall and become human Nothomb constructs a brilliant study of infancy. Deeply autobiographical, like all her work, and deeply philosophical, like all her work, what amazed me most was how completely she captured or imagined the self-preoccupation that is early childhood. Any child will believe it is the center of the universe (and why not an infant must be watched and waited on), and yet the same child will experience "the fall," the recognition that he or she is not a god, is not the center of the universe. Nothomb's ability to recognize this essential problem of being a child and tease out of her own experience the joys and pains of existence in a way that is as imminently and entertainingly readable as it is philosophical is where her genius lies. I've never read anything like it.

In the beginning before there is an Amélie, God exists as a tube eating, breathing, and excreting. However, the creators are a bit unhappy that this baby behaves more like a vegetable so these parents nickname the tube "la Plante". However, two years later la Plante abruptly moves and cries. Then the Tube's Belgium grandma arrives with the most devastating poison known in the universe, white chocolate. The Tube tastes the sweetness and a new conscience has metamorphosed. Life in the tube has turned quite sweetly though the awakening of Amelie makes her realize that paradise will be lost.

This unusual autobiographical tale first is told in the third person until the pivotal moment in history, the infamous chocolate incident, when the plot is written as a first person narrative. Not everyone will want to read this metaphysical story, but those who do will find a clever, witty, and intelligent tale that even makes the earliest of days come across realistically. Except for the title, fans will appreciate Amelie Nothomb's work that does not miss a beat in the translation from the original French MÉTAPHYSIQUE DES TUBES.

Harriet Klausner

I bought this book when I first found out I was pregant and it prepared me for what I should expect in the first stages of the pregnancy and up until my son was 3 years. It also showed me what and how the baby developed at each stage in it's production. It was great I would have been lost without this book.

This is the best book that I used as a resource when I was pregnant and for baby care. I never read the "What to expect ..." books. This book seemed to have the information I needed without going into too much detail. The pictures were fantastic. Most useful, though, is that it tells what symptoms mean "call the doctor". It also got us to get our kids to sleep through the night. Highly recommen!

this should be the one. It is a great book to follow through the stages of pregnancy and then into child care up to the toddler years. The pictures of the childhood rashes and sections indicating when to call the doctor are fabulous.

I am a first time mom, my husband and I were very nervous as we had never been around new born babies before and had no idea what we would need to buy, how to hold a baby ,what we needed to learn even!! This book is a complete book for all novices, it has many illustrious pictures and clear style of writing which is easy to understand. It covers more or else all topics personally I could think of. I have refered to it time and again all throughout my pregnancy and am sure it will be a great help once my baby is here.

This is one book that I would strongly recommend (and do buy for all my friends). It has a picture of every childhood disease that you can imagine from diaper rash to chicken pox to the mumps. It's all in here and the book covers pregnancy to about age 5. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and when dealing with your own kids' sickness, this book is very helpful

At 23 years old, I ended up with my very first problem ever with my foreskin. It was damaged by unsafe levels of pool chemicals while I was a lifeguard. Needless to say, I encountered a LOT of bias from doctors going so far as to threaten me that if i "don't cut off what doesn't belong there" I'm going to die of penile cancer. This book reassured me of how lucky and truly special I am to have been spared the knife in modern-day America. My problem is clearing up, and I am SOO thankful to remain intact! This book is a must read for all expecting parents!

This book is easy to read and understand, especially for those who want the facts fast. It is a must read for new parents. Dr. Ritter's book should be available for pregnant moms to read in the waiting room. Unfortunately, it is not available in most bookstores and discount chains as all those mass-produced baby care books who give you only vague answers to circumcision questions. Most of these books have 1/2 page pro and con on circumcision and most of the pro arguments are distorted or old data. I owned several copies of this book because I would give them to expecting parents. I wanted them to make the right decision. This book has been updated from the original older version.

With books like this one, I learned there are no medical reasons to consent to circumcision when I gave birth. Why cut my babies? Previously, like most young parents, I had assumed that "Doctor Knows Best" so when I first read this book and discovered a controversy amongst doctors themselves about a taken-for-granted surgery, I deepened my life long investigation into the consequences of circumcision. I recommend this book for parents who place their trust in obstetricians and pediatricians, indeed for all people who care about the future -- it is an alarming wake up call to a culture asleep at the wheel of creation. What are we doing when we hurt baby boys for no good reason? In studying the warring cultures of the world, one thing we consistently have in common is the genital mutilation of our children (amongst other things). If we truly want to co-create a peaceful world, let's begin with our babies. Maybe after all, these good doctors, Thomas Ritter and George Denniston, do know what is best.

A must read for anybody considering circumcision. I was a parent believing that circumcision was the "RIGHT thing to do". I did not know that at the birth of my twin sons in 1997, that no medical orginzation in the world recommended circumcission. I was told that circumcision is your choice and was recommended by my doctors. Never did those doctors tell me what this book reveals. It is an easy to read source of information for any parent thinking of circumcising or to simply to educate yourself about the implications of circumcission. This book contains documented and well supported information about why you would not want to circumcise. I have not circumcisied my third son.

This book should be required reading for all expecting parents and their doctors. This book makes it clear that routine circumcision has NO medical benefit. Because it has no medical benefit, NO medical organization in the world recommends it. For example, circumcision does not prevent urinary track infection (urinary track infections are lower in Europe where circumcision is virtually unheard of) and many studies have shown circumcision to increase the rate of HIV infection and the rate of transmitting HIV/AIDS to the female partner (UNAIDS calls using circumcision to prevent AIDS playing Russian Roulette).

Circumcision was started as a "cure" for masturbation. Since then it has been a procedure in search of a disease. To little attention is paid to the life long harm done to the child. For example, circumcision is now believed to be a contributing factor in male sexual dysfunction since the procedure removes highly sensitive sexual tissue and the unprotected glans becomes desensitized through a hardening of the skin in a process called keritinization. Also, the foreskin protects the infant from infections since it keeps feces away from the urethra. In addition, the foreskin has major immunological functions including secreting a chemical called lysozyme (an ingredient in mother's milk) that has been show to kill HIV, the virus that causes aids. This fact alone may explain why the AIDS rate in the USA is three to twelve times higher than any western European country.

Routine infant circumcision not only is medically unnecessary, it is harmful. It is only a matter of time before the procedure will be outlawed. Until that happens this book will give parents the information they need to protect their sons from this destructive practice.

The book is wonderful it shipped promptly and my wife loves it. She is a big Eloise Wilkin fan. Thank you very much

Such a lovely book, the illustrations are wonderful. Wish it had a cover that allowed more inserts/pictures to fit inside and still shut flat.

I love Eloise Wilkin's illustrations, but when I saw this baby book on Amazon, I was worried it might somehow be too girlie. (We don't know the gender of our baby yet.) I was lucky enough to see it in person today, however, and it is certainly appropriate for either a boy or a girl.

Lovely, old fashioned illustrations, and just the right number of questions (not too many, not too few), plus lots of room for momentos and photos.

I love Eloise Wilkin's style - and my daughters had many little golden books illustrated by her when they were young. Now I have a granddaughter and I want her to enjoy Eloise Wilkin as well.

I bought this book in a store after I had already ordered a baby journal online that I was dissapointed with. the illistrations in this baby journal were so lovely that I was compelled to buy it. If you want a baby journal with a ton of room for writing everything down then you will be dissapointed with this book. Otherwise it covers all the standard milestones and has beautiful artwork to go along with it. Attached to the inside of the back cover is an evelope for anything extra you might want to put in it.

Jewel Sample creatively offers parents and adults a unique and thoughtful approach to help children who are coping with unexpected tragedy. In her book, Flying Hugs and Kisses, Sample introduces readers to Baby Will, the newest member of the family. Will's older siblings remind us that children can embrace the concept of boundless love when Sally starts the "I Love You This Much" game and says, "We love Baby Will all the way to heaven and back," as she jumps up and down during playtime. Baby Will receives a lot of love and attention. His family could be like many other families. What is important about this story is that Baby Will's life ends unexpectedly due to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). The realism of events portrayed by Sample may be very similar to what other families experience with the unexpected death of a child, parent, sibling, or other family member. Mom's factual explanation in the hospital to the other children is straightforward about death - "When someone's body does not work it means they have died. This is what happened to Baby Will. It also means that Baby Will can not open his eyes, cry, smile, and drink his bottle or wet his diaper anymore." The story may be helpful to parents and children during a difficult time, because in their grief, we see a family take a unique, active approach that helps the entire family cope with their loss. Flying Hugs and Kisses introduces the concept of spirituality and heaven and combines it with "I Love You This Much" to offer other families possible ideas when coping with an unexpected death.

John Adams
Author of The Dragonfly Door

There are not many books out there to help children deal with grief. Jewel offers hope and encouragement in this book. A great tool for families or churches to have on hand.

Flying Hugs and Kisses is a touching book written to help children understand more about SIDS. It offers a wonderfully creative way of coping for family members who are affected by SIDS. Jewel Sample does a very good job of assisting parents (or other family members) in explaining things at a child's level. I would have to imagine that there are many families that have been affected by SIDS sending the "flying hugs and kisses" described in the story to their lost loved ones after reading this book. Well done.

Flying Hugs & Kisses is a special, unique book to help children understand
the loss of a baby. Wonderfully comforting. Highly recommended.

A great resource for families with children who have lost a baby to SIDS. I highly recommend it.

This book is fabulous and a must read for NICU parents. I read many books when my twins were in the NICU and this book was my favorite - i couldn't put it down. Both my husband and I kept rereading it and have practically memorized it!

The book is an amazing and touching story of the NICU roller coaster - the stress of seeing your baby in pain, the strain it can be on your marriage especially when you deal with it differently, the fear parents have when calling for an update etc.

The various vignettes really hit home for us and it helped us to articulate every thing that we were feeling and helped us even more clearly share our feelings with each other and with our family members. It is easy to feel so isolated in the NICU and this helped us realize that someone else felt exactly like we did ...it was okay to be annoyed by the loud noise the garbage bag makes every time it gets changed and the sometimes lack of progress the babies make etc.

It is a captivating story and a quick read that will make you feel like the author is writing about YOUR story, YOUR experiences and YOUR feelings. It is a must read for parents and a great book to share with your families!

I am the new aunt of a 25-week preemie. In the hospitals NICU library, I found this book by chance, and I couldn't put it down. This collection of short vignettes gave me a peek into the mind of a parent of a preemie, into all the hopes and fears and trials and joys my sister and brother-and-law might experience. And right from the beginning, when my sister tearfully begged me not to do anything to hurt her baby, and a week later, when the strain and exhaustion in her voice were becoming obvious... I felt like I had some point of reference, having read Barsuhn's excellent work.

While my baby was in the NICU I thought this book would be specifics about a baby I didn't know...Wrong! A wonderful story that perfectly touches on the things ALL preemie parents go through. A quick read and a must read for those intimately involved with a premature child.

My wife was given this book by the Social Worker in our NICU...I just read the first paragraph and couldn't put it down...each description, physical and emotional is exactly what my wife and I are going through...I am going to order another copy and give it to our "premie" daughter when she is old enough to fathom what me, my wife, and her went through. This book is a MUST for all parents enduring this rollercoaster of a ride....

I felt as if the book was taken from my own journal. I cried as I read while kangerrooing my preemie. I plan to puchase a copy to donate to our NICU. A great book !!!!!