Natural Family

Be sure to visit the unique parenting website, Natural Family Magazine (see link), where I am the Reviews Editor. For the month of March, I reviewed titles like Above Us Only Sky by the one and only Marion Winik (also covered here in my November 14th post), 28 Days by Gabrielle Lichterman (sorry, guys...28 days, yes it is about women's body cycles--so skip it if you're scared of the powerful physical and emotional transformations of the female each month), and Hearing Is Believing by Dr. Elisa Medhus (which might make you change the things you say in front of your kids...okay, okay, maybe it will at least make you say them a bit more softly anyway).

I also reviewed a book from England publishers called Why Love Matters: how affection shapes a baby's brain by Sue Gerhardt. This book was heavy on the science and research--which I find endlessly fascinating (note: I'm not being sarcastic here). It discusses how babies form neurological pathways early on in life and why parents matter in their child's early years. (Note again: I said parents, so don't even try to skip out on the midnight feeding, Dads...) One of my favorites, though, was Hannah Holmes' book, Suburban Safari. This is by the same author who wrote The Secret Life of Dust. In this new one, she sets out to find the "wild" contained within that small patch of lawn in the backyard. Think there's nothing there? Let Holmes show you otherwise...she teams up with entomologists, biologists, botanists, ecologists and others to investigate the unexpected "miniature life-and-death dramas" going on just beyond the back porch. Whether you live in the city or in a rural/wild place, Holmes' point is, there is wildlife and it is deserving of our attention and protection. Seriously...I haven't looked at the birds all this past Winter in the same way.

I compiled some others on the site that may be of interest as reviewed by NFO staff. If you're looking for something to read for the weekend...maybe this can help you out...