Customer Reviews

I'm Made of Mama's Milk

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I ordered this, despite the mixed reviews, because I really wanted something to begin to balance all the bottle-feeding shown in children's books, TV, etc., and I figured it would be better than nothing. I'd give it five stars for concept and intent, but just one star for execution.

As others have said, the photos are soft-focus-y (if you're feeling charitable) or blurry and grainy (if you're not), and the book is designed with a really limited palette of pinkish-orangish-brownish tones. My 16-month-old son has rejected this book every time I've tried to share it with him, probably because it's just not very engaging visually. We'll try again when he's older and a little more verbal and we can discuss what's going on in the images more.

I also agree with many reviewers that the near-nude images of the mother -- while beautiful and natural and a lovely expression of the tenderness and vulnerability that comes with breastfeeding -- don't accurately reflect my matter-of-fact, day-to-day experience of nursing or the experience of most of my friends who breastfeed. If there is to be only one board book available showing and discussing this experience for todders, I wish it were one with a variety of images, showing moms and nurslings of all shapes and sizes and colors, nursing in all kinds of situations and with breasts large and small, exposed, semi-exposed, or not visible.

Here's hoping that we'll soon have many, many board books, picture books, and other media that not only focus on the wonderful ordinariness of breastfeeding babies, toddlers, and preschoolers but also incorporate it as an incidental element.

Being a mom who breastfed her child until one month after her third birthday, I can totally relate to this story of extended nursing. I can remember that special time like it was yesterday...my daughter's sweet face smiling back up at me as she was nursing, her hands gently tugging at my hair, her eyes slowly drifting into a deep sleep. What a wonderful experience it was for the both of us.

The book, "I'm Made of Mama's Milk," by Mary Olsen, is a short rhyming story that captures the nursing experiences of a toddler and her family. Not only is this book special for nursing mothers and their children, but it's also a good book for non-nursing mothers to share with their children. Most of the time non-nursing children will have the opportunity to see children who are nursing, and this book will help to clear up any questions they may have. I think it's simple enough for even very young children to understand.

MyParenTime.com highly recommends this book -- it's perfect for babies and toddlers, whether they're nursing or not! The book is made of sturdy cardboard pages, and shows softened images of a toddler and her family. Many of these images show the toddler nursing and smiling. Other images show the toddler enjoying her family :). On the last page of the book, there is a reflective foil where the child reading the book can look inside and see themselves. Babies and toddlers just love looking at themselves! What a sweet book to accompany what is bound to be a very sweet time in your child's life :).

This is a wonderful book written from the perspective of a nursing toddler. This is a nice sized board book with 24 pages! I believe it may be the only board book about breastfeeding. It has beautiful pictures and a wonderful verse. My son loves for me to read this to him while he nurses. I can't tell you how many times we have read it. I feel that reading this book with my son is a way of showing him how special he is and how wonderful it is that we have this special bond together. I think all nursing mothers and toddlers should have a copy of this book.

Okay, so this book isn't going to win any awards for text or picture quality but it's not awful. I was actually expecting the picture quality to be worse than it is from some of the reviews. I'm just glad there's a board book out there about nursing. Perhaps if some of the major publishers would publish a book about breastfeeding it would be of better quality. It looks to me like the author paid to have it printed in Thailand herself, so yeah for her for doing it! I really do think it's a shame there aren't more books about nursing, it's a HUGE part of my sons life right now- mine too :) I mean what's the deal people? Too scared to talk about boobies?
The only draw back with this book for me is it reminds my son of nursing and then he kind of looks at me like, hey that's not a bad idea... and he is nursing!

Mary Olsen's book, I'm Made of Mama's Milk, is charming, enchanting, and wonderful. Olsen captures an endearing, light-hearted joy about breastfeeding, with flowing verse and lovely pictures. Reading the book with my sons was a delight. The boys giggled and pointed at the baby in the book, and were plainly enjoying the story.

Positive breastfeeding references in our culture are few and far between. Whenever we see a baby on television, or comics, or children's books, most of the time the child is being bottle-fed, or in a high chair being fed baby-goo on a spoon. I'm always on the lookout for examples of breastfeeding for my sons. I frequently feel I need to explain all the bottles associated with babies, and with this book, I felt no pressure to explain a thing. The boys knew, understood, and related to the pictures and text in Mary Olsen's book.

Jake, my three year old, laughed, and said, "Look, that baby's nursin'! Just like me an' Logan!"

Not only does this board book depict scenes of breastfeeding, but also of cosleeping, nursing in a sling, nursing in the bathtub, and a sling-wearing daddy. There is also a very pleasant surprise at the end, one that made both my sons laugh out loud in delight. Reading this book, I realized there is such a tremendous gap in our cultural images, and this book is an excellent start to filling that gap. There isn't a stroller or a crib in the book, nothing to indicate the baby is raised any differently than my boys. I love that.

Mary Olsen's words are just as alluring. She draws my sons in, makes them included, makes them part of the story, part of the wonder of breastfeeding. It is a book about them, my breastfeeding sons, and they, especially Jake, can tell immediately. He already asks for the book several times a day, and we've only owned the book for a very short while. This is definitely a book we will treasure for a long time to come. I only hope more books like Mary Olsen's I'm Made of Mama's Milk follow, and change our society's automatic associations when it comes to how babies and young children are fed, raised, spoken to, and how normal and wonderful breastfeeding our children actually is.

At the time my son was born, this was the only book I could find that even featured breastfeeding. I sent it back. I really, really, really admire what the author was trying to do and I am still nursing my toddler so you can imagine that I'm right there with her in wanting more materials for families like ours. It was just poor quality, to be honest. The pictures were all of the same mom and baby nursing in different places, or with psychedelic backgrounds around them that were choppily photoshopped in. The last page, supposed to be a mirror, was first of all wrinkled permanently, and secondly, about as reflective as a spoon. Also, the photos themselves were not very artful or tasteful, and the one of them nursing in the tub made me uncomfortable. I felt it should be a family photo album instead. I am so sorry that a real publisher wasn't given the opportunity to or wouldn't publish this book to a higher standard.

I just gave this book to my son for his second birthday (he still nurses quite frequently). I think the text is gentle and sweet and the pictures are good. My son was enraptured by it. I think this book is a true expression of love and I applaud the author for having the courage to share herself with the world in such a vulnerable, loving way. I do not see a problem with the picture quality--it is fine. I also do not think that the mother is overly "exposed" or "near nude"--she is large breasted, but still looks appropriately covered to me (I am an LLL Leader).

The best way to tell if a childrens book is worth having is to put it to the test with a two year old. After all, that is usually who the book is really written for. It is rather hard for adults to judge the writing style of an author who is trying to reach small children, even if you think you are pretty child-like yourself. In the case of I'm Made of Mama?s Milk, I had barely gotten the book out of the box before my two year old had snatched it away and was making cooing noises at the baby inside. In fact, I had hoped to catch a quick glimpse of it after he had moved on to something else, but the moment it was in my hands, it was time to read again.

I?m not sure what he enjoyed the most: the mirror in the back that he could "talk" to, or the pictures of a toddler nursing. Since he had recently weaned due to a pregnancy, I was curious to see his reaction, and he thought it was absolutely marvelous. We must have read the book at least ten times in a row.

This is a sturdy board book, perfect for toddlers, with nice big pictures. The story is easy to follow, and gets bonus points from the toddler set for rhyming. The mirror, as I mentioned earlier, is sure to be a big hit as well.

It can be challenging and quite frustrating to find books that reflect the values of the nursing family. Too often we settle for images of bottles and soothers because they are so prevalent in our society, and if we didn't, our children would miss out on some otherwise wonderful stories. However, I'm Made of Mama's Milk gives us images of extended breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and babywearing. Overall, this book is a very nice addition to any nursing family's library.

Of the small selection of breastfeeding themed books out there, this is my favorite. The big draw for me is that is shows some photos of toddlers and it is a board book. It is one of the only ones that survived to ds' preschool years without tape holding it together.

My son was not as impressed with it when he was really little, but as he got to be a toddler and preschooler, it was among his favorites. One word of warning though, we almost never get to the end of the book without him asking to nurse. lol I actually hid the book this last month because my pregnancy makes nursing uncomfortable and he will bring the book to read to him and ask to nurse more than usual.

Would definatly recommend this book!

The photos are grainy, the poetry choppy. But this is one of only a very few that celebrate nursing, especially of an older baby/toddler. I would love to have a million books about mama milk to choose from, but until then, this one is well worth looking past the imperfections! My toddler loves it for the familiar images, and I love it for the positive portrayal of a normal human behavior that is hard to find in our culture!