Guarding the Moon: A Mother's First Year (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In the womb it was so easy to nourish Baby..." (more)
Key Phrases: Kitten Magic

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This slight volume belies the depth of emotion conveyed within, as children's and YA author Block (Dangerous Angels, etc.) invites the reader to peer into her heart and mind during the first year after the birth of her first child. She's penned a lyrical, poetic vision of the early moments and months that are so precious and hard to describe. That the story (mostly) glosses over the monotonous work of child-rearing and the moments of frustration and anxiety is beside the point; other books provide solace for the new mother who needs to know she's not the only one who isn't enchanted by every single moment. For those who are enchanted, or for those who are dealing with the challenges of older children and wish to revisit the fleeting first year through rose-tinted glasses, Block enlightens with lines such as, "It felt like being in love for the first time. I wanted to woo her... I wanted the magic charm of fabrics and colors to transform me into a mother worthy of my daughter." She describes their adventures in parks and yoga classes and the rare moments when she learns to separate from the baby, having manicures, rediscovering her relationship with her husband and getting back to her work in writing this book. Most of all, Block illuminates the myriad ways in which her child has transformed her vision of the world, in language that sings.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

I feel as if I have been called on to guard the moon herself. A moon with dimples and a tiny crooked grin. How do you do this? How do you safely carry the moon around on this earth?

Acclaimed author Francesca Lia Block's meditation on the anxieties and elations of her first year as a mother are lovingly told in this treasure of a book. Block writes with raw and tender emotion about the joys and fears in her new life with her Silky-Milky, Girly-Swirl Moon Baby. As she watches her daughter grow and adjust to the world, the author reflects on how her own body and belief system have changed forever through the miracle of birth and parenting. With beautifully woven lyrical writing, Block reveals with immense grace and passion all the gifts her child has given her.

This is a love story -- from mother to daughter -- that reminds us that the deepest kind of love makes us vulnerable, joyous, triumphant, and new.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (April 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0066213673
• ISBN-13: 978-0066213675
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #188,024 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great book by a clearly loving mother..., August 9, 2004

By	Chi (United States) - See all my reviews

'Guarding the Moon' is a wonderful book about how joyous and enrapturing motherhood and babies are. Those who found this book "hilarious" or "terrible" apparently don't understand the obsession a woman can have with loving her child, when she has desired one for a long time. If you're looking for a book with nothing but cutsie anecdotes about stinky diapers and complaints about waking up in the middle of the night with a child, then you shouldn't read this book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Touching Memoir is the Perfect Gift for Mother's Day!, April 18, 2003

By	Bookreporter.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

With only a quick glance at the title, GUARDING THE MOON: A Mother's First Year, it is easy to imagine Francesca Lia Block's latest book as a guide for parents of newborns. But inside the cover is instead a beautiful, poetic and often brutally honest memoir of a first time mother's love for her baby and a record of her journey to self-love and emotional fulfillment.

GUARDING THE MOON is a chronicle of Block's first year of motherhood: her joys, fears, anxieties and discoveries. Beginning at the moment she gives birth --- when she welcomes her daughter into the world --- and ending with the baby's first birthday, this slender volume is intimate and powerful. Block always wanted children, but barriers seemed to meet her at every turn. When she brings her healthy baby to term, after previously miscarrying, the responsibility she feels for her daughter (both physical and emotional) is overwhelming and awesome --- as overwhelming and awesome as if she had been chosen to guard the moon.

While, for the most part, the book is about one woman's emotional, physical and spiritual reaction to becoming a mother, it is also about community and family. Block is supported in her first year as a mother by her loving husband and mother, surrounded by friends and adored by her two dogs. All of them contribute to her experience and story.

Still, at the center of this literary celebration are Block and her daughter, also affectionately known as Babela, Kewpie, Moon Girl and Girly-Swirl, to mention just a few pet names. In the beginning, they are dependant on each other as frame of reference; the mother is the baby's world, the baby is the mother's moon. But, over the course of the year, they both begin to expand their universe. The baby faces new challenges and the mother begins to explore new personal possibilities and even imagines more babies. Each grows stronger and wiser.

GUARDING THE MOON is really about creation and transformation --- the creation of one life and the transformation of another. Block shares much of her own troubled emotional past, her feelings of self-doubt and eating disorder. Becoming a mother does not erase or change the things that made her sad in the past, but it does give her a new and healthier perspective. Her body, once a vessel of pain and self-scorn, is now a giver and sustainer of life, loved unconditionally by her daughter.

Just in time for Mother's Day, Block's book is a perfect gift. And, while it does discuss the mundane details that are included in most parenting books, such as diapers, lack of sleep and baby food, it also discusses family dynamics, marital intimacy, unexpected pleasures and pains of motherhood --- all written like a love letter, reading like a poem. GUARDING THE MOON is incredibly intimate and intensely spiritual. It is a unique contribution to parenting books and an important one. Block does not speak for all new mothers but shares her story in such a moving way that makes it highly readable and recommendable.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Egelman

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leapin' Lizards- FLB Rocks, January 9, 2004

By A Customer

If you're familiar with FLB's books and her writing style, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. I enjoyed her frank honesty about the way some new mothers can obsess about all the important and seemingly unimportant things about their babies. This book does a great job of expressing her growing into her own skin as a new mama.