Crib Notes: A Random Reference For The Modern Parent

Rating:
Summary: Can get these facts (cheaper) elsewhere
Review: I bought this book because I thought it sounded interesting and funny. While it was both of these, halfway through I found myself wondering why I wasted my money. Look these facts up on the internet if you really want to know them because the book isn't worth it's price.

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Summary: What a delightful book!
Review: I love the concept, I love the quirky facts and figures, and I especially love the tone. There really is something dehumanizing about the way parenting books speak to you--or something just dated and clueless. And so generalized--like they see their audience as every single pregnant human being, and therefore have to be utterly bland and condescending. And this little book is none of that. It captures exactly the way I feel about being a father: like I'm still myself, I haven't morphed into a robot, and I'm constantly wondering about some pretty off-the-wall aspects of having a baby, and I'm definitely too sleep-deprived to run around figuring out the answers for my self. No need, now. Just flip, muse, laugh. Flip, muse, laugh. Repeat.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect mixture of the elemental and the quirky
Review: It ranges from the utilitarian ("sample nanny contract") to the whimsical (list of "first words for a bowel movement"), but it amuses on every page. This book is smart, with a dry, ironic sensibility similar to that found in places like McSweeney's. It's a perfect gift for new parents who are already overloaded with advice and baby manuals. It will even appeal to parents who've already been around the block a few times: the "primer for a good bedtime story" has been a vital resource for me in preparing for the nightly round with our 3 year old.

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Summary: Perfect book for Gen-X parents-to-be
Review: Pregnant for the first time, I've been given every darn baby book on the market. Most of them put me in a panic. They are too sweet or too clinical. When my college best friend sent Crib Notes to me in the mail I almost didn't read it. But as soon as I opened it, my husband and I found ourselves laughing out loud. I highly recommend this book for the thinking Gen-x parents to be. It keeps your humor alive during this crazy time of change.

Rating:
Summary: finally a useful baby book
Review: this has the answers to everything you wanted to know but never found in the other books. is your child the dalai lama? what is the chemical composition of breast milk? is my baby smarter than a chimp of comparable age? (often not...)

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Summary: Trivia on parenting and childhood
Review: This small book contains a hodgepodge of everyday information and esoteric trivia about many aspects of parenting and childhood. It contains lists, charts, graphs, quotations and descriptions of a wide variety of facts from the serious to the silly.

Pregnancy is covered in such items as slang terms for pregnancy, in utero development, and anatomy of the placenta. Childbirth facts include birthing positions, lactation, and the Apgar scale for newborns. Child raising tips include diaper folding methods, basic Montessori principles, and milestones in child development. The financial aspects of child rearing are represented in such charts as the economics of diapers, average nanny salaries, and the estimated annual child raising expenses for the first eighteen years. There is useless but fun trivia like lullaby lyrics, the names of Dr. Seuss characters, Barbie doll careers, and lists of child rulers and child stars. My favorite chart is one that diagrams different levels of cousins - so now I know what such relationships as second cousins twice removed really mean.

This is not a very practical parental reference book. There is no index and no structured order to the contents. It is more a book of random trivia that make interesting but not particularly essential reading. It imitates the format of "Schott's Original Miscellany" but without as much humor and creativity as the original. It is still an interesting collection of information that would make a good gag gift for a baby shower.

Eileen Rieback

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Gift
Review: Very clever little book. As a first time parent, I found it helpful; as a curious person, I found it informative; and as someone who fancies himself as witty, I found myself wishing I had thought of the idea. It's a fun read and perfect gift for anyone with a child and a brain.