Rating: 
Summary: Transitioning Away from the JARS
Review: Starting out on solids is both exciting and scary - baby cereal and organic jar food was the way I chose to begin w/my son at 6 months. At 8 months, with a boy who would eat everything, it was time to escape the blandness of the Jar and move to homemade cooking. This book is fantastic. You realize it's not that hard to give your child fresh food if you can freeze it. In fact, for my second child I hope to skip the jar food completely. This book teaches you what to feed your child and when (ages). I love the color pictures. Some recipes are pretty complicated and some directions are not detailed enough but in general this is the idiot's guide to cooking for a child. For me, a working mom (55 hours a week) and a terrible cook, this book was the confidence builder I needed to escape those terrible jars. I hate to think about feeding my son jar food now. And if you have a full-time caregiver, this is a great tool for her too! My nanny now cooks a bunch of meals each week and freezes them for our meals.
Rating: 
Summary: A great gift to give new parents--Very helpful--love it!
Review: This bk is wonderful! Especially helpful with 1st starting baby on solids. Re: rules on which foods at what age--I use this bk in combination with What to Expect the 1st Yr. (There are a few differences on when to start citrus, etc.) My daughter is now 1 & I am trying out alot of the recipes that are very lumpy.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty, well organized, but the recipes disappoint
Review: This book is good for general nutrition information and for cooking ideas, but the recipe specifics are disappointing. I bought this to get ideas on transitioning my child from jarred baby food to table food. I chose this book because it had an accessible layout, good photos, and helpful nutrition information for each developmental stage. I have tried several recipes, though, with little success. They are not specific and hard to follow. Each time I've made one, I've used many dishes; extensive clean-up is not mom-friendly! The times are ludicrous--the pancake recipe that said it took 12 minutes took me nearly 45, and I am not an inexperienced cook! I tried the Pasta Cartwheels with cheese and Broccoli, Pasta and Sauce with Hidden Vegetables, Pasta Salad with Tuna and Sweet Corn, the unfortunately named "Finger-licking chicken & potato balls", and the Yogurt Pancakes. My son refused to eat all but the pancakes, and so my husband and I had to scramble to find something else for him to eat, then consume the recipes ourselves, all of which were bland and unremarkable. Kids like different things, so perhaps your child will like the recipes better than mine did, but you will still have to cope with lots of dishes, vague recipes and inaccurate cooking times.
Rating:
Summary: It's pretty good
Review: This book seems a little daunting at first, especially if you're on the fence about making your own baby food or not. Some people object to some of the recipes having butter or onions. But I took a second look and decided to try some things. The early recipes are very easy. The second-stage ones are easy too, I found out. Most things are simmered til soft, then pureed in a blender. True, there is some butter and onions included, but when I realized that each recipe made several servings, the amount of butter my baby was receiving in each feeding was nearly negligible. Also, I simply cut out the butter, oil, onions, and the like when I didn't feel it was necessary. A lot of these have carrots and potatoes as a base for introducing other things like fish and cottage cheese, so the diet gets changed gradually. Recipes are indicated to be suitable for freezing or not, a big help.The author seems a little too cutesy with the presentation. I can't imagine myself making litle animal faces at each meal for the next 5 years. They're just suggestions I guess. So don't think you have to do this whole book or else. Some recipes seem unnecessarily complicated, like poaching fish in a flavored broth. Plain water is fine. Simplify where you like to make it manageable for yourself, and really it's not too hard to make your own baby food.
Rating:
Summary: BEAUTIFUL & CREATIVE!!!
Review: This is a lovely book, full of beautiful photographs, creative recipes and lots of helpful information. My only concern is the "when your child is unwell" section on p. 67, where the author recommends milkshakes and hot chocolate! Sugar is a well-known immune suppressant, and should never be offered to a child who is sick (and should only be offered sparingly to a child who is well). Other than that, I think it's a great book!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful presentation good ideas
Review: This is a very pretty book to look at and there are some interesting recipes. The pictures psyched me up for making my own baby food. But in the end I am not sure I ever followed a recipe from this book. It did give me good ideas about flavor combos though - like fruit with meat, etc.
The author is British (I think) and some of the foods for the younger ages don't match recommendations you often see in the States. That might bother some people. But then who follows these child-rearing books to the letter anyway?
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: When I first bought this book five years ago, I returned it, because I did not think that berries and some of the other foods for very young babies were appropriate. I picked up the book again when he was older and this book is fantastic. I have this book, her Healthy Baby Planner and the revised editions as well as four others! I use this for his meals and the whole family loves her recipes. If you follow your pediatricians guidelines ( I use Ruth Yaron's great list of chokable foods and also I use Dr. William Sears books for his list of the least allergenic and the most allergenic foods.....his books are my bible) you should be able to easily decide which baby purees are best for you. The photos are beautiful and inpiring. I think her recipes are the best I have ever found. My son will devour the recipes from her book and I use her books every day. And I have many cookbooks...Barefoot Contessa, Martha Stewart, as well as baby cookbooks and Annabel Karmel is number one with us. Her books are a must have for your library.
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