Need suggestions for childcare/baby books for a liberal mom :-)

[Peek a Boo]

My li'l bro and his dw are adopting a little girl from China.
Sil is a career gal --she will NOT be staying home w/ this baby.
She works at the Senate in DC, and he is going to Marine Corps Officer Candidate School. He's a staunch Republican and she's a Dyed-in-the-Wool Democrat :-) They are both in their early 30's. Li'l bro says the child will be 9-12 months old.

ANYway...I am the absolute LAST person that she will take advice from --I homeschool [gasp!] -5 kiddos, conservative, etc. I can tell my li'l bro all kinds of things, but he has to watch how he recommends stuff to her too. She wouldn't let him switch out a circuit breaker in their new house because he wasn't a qualified electrician.

Something written by someone w/ known Democrat leanings and a degree in Child-Something-or-Other would probably carry more weight w/ her. i can almost guarantee she is NOT going to want any attachment parenting stuff.
They are attending adoption classes. She is going on a staff trip to China in March and will likely check out some souvenirs while there.

SO: if you could recommend some good childcare books that might resonate w/ someone who thinks along those lines, feel free to recommend them. They do go to church, but she is not a strong Christian.

TIA!!

[Maria/ME]

What about skipping anything that could be construed as controversial or personal (like child rearing choices) and getting a Lifebook How To book?

Such as this (http://www.amazon.com/LifeBooks-Creating-Treasure-Adopted-Child/dp/0970183275). Or how about a kids chinese mythology book (http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Mythology-Z/dp/0816048703)?

And no matter what your differences in childrearing, basic childcare (http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Spocks-Baby-Childcare-Seventh/dp/0671537628) is universal.

[Peek a Boo]

The Lifebook looks interesting. I already figgered on getting a Spock book, a small container of blocks, and a cool book i found on block play :-)

and i know that childREARing can be tough, but i wanted to include SOMEthing anyway.....

Thanks!

[PariSarah]

How 'bout the one written by the Amer. Acad. of Pediatrics? That should be "authorized" enough for her, and I've found the recommendations to be fairly sensible. There's also a nice "illnesses and symptoms" catalogue in the back.

Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 (http://tinyurl.com/23wkce)

[Andie]

The Portable Pediatrician for Parents, by Laura Walter Nathanson (http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Pediatrician-Practicing-Pediatricians-Development/dp/0060938471). Perfectly sensible stuff, IMO. And excellent developmental info.

And now that I've been to Amazon, I see that there's a new edition. Updated, and with a slightly different title since the dark ages when I had my Bigs. Anyway, it's linked above. Should fit the bill!

[Karen in CO]

Okay - so now you hurt my feelings ;) I am a liberal democrat. or was that libertarian? anywho - I vote to get her the Dr. Spock book. It is big and everyone has heard of Dr. Spock but most haven't actually read his books, but he is very much for many of the good parenting values that you probably would share. He is even for raising kids vegetarian, wearing cloth diapers, and co-sleeping, but it is all tucked in 900 pages of AAP approved stuff.

[chiguirre]

I'd vote for the Dr. Spock or What to Expect the First Year. I'm a liberal Democrat and neither of those would bother me.

[K&Rs Mom]

Well, obviously I'm not the career type... but we really liked The Baby Whisperer. There's one specifically for toddlers but starts at 8 months, so that might be better than a "first year" focus. They have a great message board too, though I blame those ladies for my current internet habit. ;)

[~Rachel~]

Libertarian here... I liked Dr. Sears myself... and for homeschooling purposes I know Holt has really helped some more 'liberal' friends ;)

[Peek a Boo]

Karen in CO -- don't feel hurt!! :-)
~offering more rhino skin~
She's made it Very Clear to li'l bro that 'my' lifestyle is absolutely completely wrong. Too many kids. Unlicensed education. Not contributing to the Workforce. backing the wrong political values to boot, lol.
I just want to make sure I don't come off as "preachy" to her, kwim??

and Rachel --her deciding to homeschool would be as dramatic as Hillary supporting Bush, lol. She's pretty outspoken about it --but not to my face :-). However, I'll keep Holt in mind. Just in case.....

thanks for the recs everyone!

[cin]

There are some great adoption books. I just found one called Lost Daughters of China. When You Were Born in China is another great one. There is a great website called Asiaforkids.com that has alot of great stuff, from Chinese babydolls to Adoption Baby Books to Books for parents and/or children on 'dealing' with adoption.

HTH

[Sebastian (a lady)]

How about Taking Care of Your Child: A Parent's Illustrated Guide to Complete Medical Care? We got this when we went overseas and it was wonderful. It has nifty flowcharts to help you decide if something is worth going to the doctor (or worth the ER). It also has nice explainations of lots of childhood medical stuff.

Sebastian

Percival Blakeney Academy (http://blakeney-academy.blogspot.com/)

Woohoo, I made a link!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I agree with the "What to expect books" - there is a toddler one too.

Jean in Newcastle

[Tonia]

My favorites - the "What to Expect" series and the Baby Whisperer.

[Maria/ME]

Oh, Peek, I can't imagine YOU coming off as preachy!

[Peek a Boo]

{{I think Maria bit her tongue after keeping it her cheek so hard, lol}}