Whoa, Baby! June 30, 2008

You may have noticed that the media is fascinated with tracking stars and their invisible or not-so-invisible baby bumps and impending parenthood. You can also track them by going to the site http://www.celebrity-babies.com/. Learn about celebrities’ birthing plans, what they’re eating, how they want to decorate the nursery, and where they buy their children’s baby clothes.

Whether you are famous or lead a non-superstar life, the most important thing is that you and your baby are healthy. If you are going to be a new mom, take a look at these books about pregnancy and how to care for yourself and your baby through healthy eating and exercise:

 

The Joy of Pregnancy: The Complete, Candid, and Reassuring Companion for Parents-to-Be (2008 ) by Tori Kropp
This book gives facts about how your body and baby will change on a month-by-month basis without overwhelming you with too much information or advice.

 

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating During Pregnancy (2006) by W. Allan Walker with Courtney Humphries
What you eat may affect your baby’s development and the health of your pregnancy. Read this book to become more informed about what nutrients will work best for you to aid in a healthy baby and smooth pregnancy and delivery.

 

The Complete Organic Pregnancy (2006) by Deirdre Dolan and Alexandra Zissu
Use this as a guide for avoiding harmful chemicals and toxins found in everything from water bottles to carpet cleaners. This resource will help you find the healthiest alternatives to common items in the environment.

 

The Everything Pregnancy Nutrition Book : What to Eat to Ensure a Healthy Pregnancy (2004) by Kimberly A. Tessmer
Give yourself and your baby a well-balanced diet during your pregnancy. Learn what vitamins and minerals are best during each trimester, as well as bust the myths about “forbidden” pregnancy foods.

 

The Active Woman’s Guide to Pregnancy : Practical Advice for Getting Outdoors When Expecting (2004) by Aneema van Groenou
Get moving! Being active during pregnancy can help you avoid excessive weight gain, have an easier and less complicated delivery, as well as help you return to pre-pregnancy fitness faster. Read this book to learn exercises and techniques for staying active during pregnancy.

 

Raising Baby Green : The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care (2007) by Alan Greene
Go green! This book discusses ways to give your child an environmentally friendly home even before he or she enters this world. Best of all, learn how to “green” other aspects of your baby’s life, from clothing to nursery decorations to baby creams and lotions.

 

To find more books about pregnancy, do a keyword search in the library catalog.

 

 

*Amazon.com was used as a reference to assist with book descriptions.

Sports Books for Fathers and Sons June 12, 2008

Father’s Day is right around the corner and for many, memories of fathers include sunny days at the ballpark, hours spent catching a football, or listening to a game on the radio together. Here are some selections from our collection about fathers, sons, and shared moments through sports.

Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir by Paul O’Neill with Burton Rocks
O’Neill, a former New York Yankees great, pays tribute to his father and to the significant role he played in Paul’s life and career, starting in Little League, through the minors, and to four World Series championships.

Fathers, Sons & Baseball: Our National Pastime and the Ties That Bond by Wayne Stewart
A compilation of profiles of dozens of families in baseball, such as the Griffeys, the Ripkens, the Alomars, the Boones, and the Bonds duo, among others.

Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball by Dan Shaughnessy
Prolific baseball writer Shaughnessy writes this account of his son’s senior year in high school and all the drama of a father watching his son grow up on and off the field.

Manning by Peyton and Archie Manning with John Underwood
The Manning family shares about their family legacy in football in this book by former NFL quarterback Archie and his son Peyton, a current NFL star. Archie’s other two sons also played football and son Eli is also a current NFL star.

Chasing the Hawk: Looking For My Father, Finding Myself by Andrew Sheehan
Dr. George Sheehan, author of the bestseller Running and Being, became internationally-known as a running and fitness guru but in the process abandoned his family and his son, Andrew. Later, as an adult struggling with addictions and his own family crisis, Andrew was able to rebuild the relationship with his father and turn his life around.

Fishing by Mail: the Outdoor Life of a Father and Son by Vance Nye Bourjaily
A collection of correspondence between the author and his father gives the reader a glimpse of the friendship and bond forged by a father and son and what they learn together about life through hunting, fishing, living on the land.

Parents’ Guides to Video Games December 17, 2007

To the average parent or grandparent of a teen or tween, it can seem that kids often speak an entirely different language. Today’s young person is fluent in a slangy mixture of pop-culture references, cellphone shorthand, and electronics abbreviations. Merriam-Webster recently had nearly everyone past their mid-30s scratching their heads when they recently announced their Word of the Year for 2007 was ‘w00t’ (yes, with two zeroes instead of the letter ‘o’), a video gaming term briefly defined as an expression of joy.

If you watch much TV, you may have seen the recent Verizon commercial in which a teenage girl laments the fact that her parents actually bought her a pony for Christmas rather than the new cellphone she really wanted. Parents hoping to avoid similar miscommunication with their children when it comes to the overwhelming world of video games may have help.

What They Play (www.whattheyplay.com), billed as “The Videogame Guide for Parents”, was created by a pair of entertainment industry veterans and according to the web site “offers parents a deep, searchable collection of information that objectively describes the themes, content and player experience of the latest and most popular videogames.” Most video gaming sites tend to be written by gamers for gamers, making the content nearly unintelligible for the uninitiated. What They Play helps bridge that gap, so when a teen asks for the latest MMORPG, they won’t receive a bag of trail mix. Of particular note is the feature article “Making Holiday Wishes Come True: Helping parents understand the videogames their kids are asking for” which breaks down the differences between various consoles and games. This may be a must-read if you still don’t know the difference between PS3 and PSP or Manhunt and Mario.

And just in case you were thinking it, a word of advice: Don’t buy the pony.