Comments on: Happy Baby Stories

By: Sachiko

Sachiko — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 02:34:39 +0000

I’ve loved Little House, Anne of Green Gables, Cheaper By the Dozen and Yours, Mine, Ours.

I’ve also found appreciation of marriage, babies and children to be explicit in Amish romance novels–they’re a nice light read without the worry of the pornographic tendencies of mainstream romance–and implicit in the works of Orson Scott Card (especially his Alvin Maker, Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow series).

Shannon Hale is another good choice. Try her The Actor and the Housewife. Madeleine L’Engle’s books also appreciate children and family, though only a few have actual pregnancies and birth in the books (I recall A Swiftly Tilting Planet does).

I understand that all great stories depend on conflict. However, I’ve read too many stories that take for granted that babies and parenthood are a burden, and rarely come across stories in which people lament the burden and trial of having a large home, several new cars, a broad education, or various other blessings that can be viewed as trials by jaundiced ingratitude.

By: Joe DeVet

Joe DeVet — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:16:05 +0000

I would add “The Little House” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, which begins with “Little House in the Big Woods.” It’s non-fiction, but in our day it reads as if it were an exciting fiction story–in fact, more interesting than fiction. This of course is the series on which the TV series “Little House on the Prairie” was based.

The books are, of course, written as children’s books. Which makes them doubly valuable. Aspiring parents can read them with delight (and instruction!) in advance, and later let them provide many hours of joy with their own children, reading to them before bedtime. Some of my best fatherhood memories are from sitting on the couch with my kids, all enthralled by the adventures of the Ingalls family.

By: TXW

TXW — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:06:37 +0000

I vaguely remember one of the last scenes of Willa Cather’s “My Antonia” giving a warm feeling about a bunch of kids surrounding their mom (Antonia), and that Antonia turned out, after hardships, happy being a mom.

By: BethC

BethC — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 04:16:34 +0000

This is not a book recommendation but I would like to suggest that you visit the website of elizabethfoss.com. She is a mother to 9 children as well as a writer (she writes for the Arlington Catholic Herald). I think you may find in her writings the joy and love for babies and child rearing you are looking for.

By: Sally Thomas

Sally Thomas — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 04:08:13 +0000

Oh, and there are Shirley Jackson’s short stories based on her own mothering experience — I forget titles, but there’s one very funny one in which her kindergartener keeps bringing home tales about the class terror, who turns out to be himself. Again, all her child characters are wonderfully drawn, dimensional, and real (probably because they’re based on real children, but still . . . )

By: Sally Thomas

Sally Thomas — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 03:33:07 +0000

Another good Sylvia Plath mother-poem: “You’re”

By: Cathy D

Cathy D — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:35:13 +0000

There are actually 2 Cheaper By The Dozen books, both of which depict children in a positive light and are very funny as well!

Maria Von Trapp also has one, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.

While on a kick of reading the original book for different family movies, I also read Who Gets the Drumstick?, by Frank and Helen Beardsley (Yours, Mine and Ours).

By: Margaret

Margaret — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:33:40 +0000

It is hard to think of stories about babies and pregnancies (positive stories, that is). Here are some more about families in general:

Gerald Durrell’s autobiographical MY FAMILY AND OTHER ANIMALS is a wonderful book. Durrell was about 10 years old when his mother sold their house in England and moved the children to Corfu. He intended, I think, to describe the flora and fauna of Corfu as seen by a budding naturalist, but he also succeeds in painting a delightful, funny, and loving portrait of his eccentric family.

Someone else has mentioned CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN by Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth. I’d like to add THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON by Johann Wyss.

By: Joe Z

Joe Z — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:29:40 +0000

Kristin Lavransdatter jumps to my mind, too, but don’t forget how terrifying a childbirth scene it contains! On the other hand, it does have some of the most beautiful and insightful depictions of a mother’s relationship to her very young children. All part of being one of the world’s great novels, I suppose.

By: David Mills

David Mills — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:49:58 +0000

The mention of Jean Kerr etc. reminded me of one very, very funny book about motherhood: Aloise Buckley Heath's Will Mrs. Major Go to Hell?.