Friday, September 27, 2013

Reviewlettes: Baby-Led Weaning and Walking on Water

Both of these books are very specific and probably won't appeal to all of you fair readers. So I'm going to just write about each one briefly.

Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
By Madeleine L'Engle 

"Christian Writing" is a term usually reserved for trite stories with no profanity or sex, which conclude with a very happy ending and a literal "come to Jesus" moment. But Madeleine L'Engle is renowned as a writer in all circles, a writer whose books are fiction and non-fiction, for children and for adults, and about subjects as everyday as housework and as incredible as traveling to new worlds.

L'Engle argues that every author and artist is imitating God as we impart in the act of creation. The book itself is somewhat meandering, a collection of musings collected over a varied and long career in writing. But I feel that this is a book that I can refer back to when I am looking for some inspiration, because it contains many gems like these:

“Stories are able to help us to become more whole, to become Named. And Naming is one of the impulses behind all art; to give a name to the cosmos, we see despite all the chaos.” 

“In art, either as creators or participators, we are helped to remember some of the glorious things we have forgotten, and some of the terrible things we were asked to endure...” 

“But unless we are creators we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint of clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career.” 



Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods-And Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater
Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Solid Foods
and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater
By Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett 

This book explores baby-led weaning, a concept that originated in the UK. Instead of spending a lot of money on pureed foods or spending your whole day making your own baby food, this method teaches your baby to feed herself the same food that you are eating. Obviously you won't be handing your infant popcorn, but you will let them experiment with different textures and learn to eat foods from a spoon as well as finger foods.

This book was really informative. The authors introduce the concept and then answer frequently asked questions as well as offering real life stories of parents who tried baby-led weaning. We are thinking of trying this with our daughter and I feel like I have all of the information that I need to start the process.

2 comments:

  1. I can't remember if you read my Ring of Endless Light post or not, but this post pretty much sums up why I love L'Engle - science, art, and religion are not mutually exclusive. And her concepts and writing are just beyond amazing! I've not read this (I've recently discovered there are a few books by her I've not read, so this is going on my list!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did! I'm glad she wrote so many books. It keeps me from getting too sad that she won't be writing any more.

      Delete