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Yesterday I introduced you to HappyBaby The Organic Guide to Baby’s First 24 Months and if you look at it from a healthy baby standpoint I would categorize this book as excellent, however it’s also being marketed as a green baby book, and I while it is a healthy baby book, some of the green info is not as good. Read on for the pros and cons.
PRODUCT: HappyBaby The Organic Guide to Baby’s First 24 Months by the founders of HAPPYBABY, Robert W. Sears, and Amy Marlow (September 2009, Harper Collins)
COST: $16.99 softcover / $16.99 ebook
See a general run down of what HappyBaby is about; including how the book chapters are set up, topics covered, and more.
THE GOOD:
- Not a guilt trip book – the tips are easy, not overwhelming, and focus on doing what you can vs. doing it all.
- Chapters are bite sized chunks – easy for busy parents to digest. There are small sections on various topics throughout the book plus easy to follow charts (like “A Healthy Mama’s Weekly Grocery List”), and I especially like that little tips pepper the text, such as, “green mama tip”, “green feeding tip”, and “real mama tip”.
- Great coupon section at the back that offers really nice deals on organic baby food, juices, green magazines, organic clothing. There are diapers too – but they’re disposable which was too bad.
The best part of the book was the middle (and largest section) The Happy (and Well-Fed!) Baby. This is where the book shines because co-authors, the founders of HAPPYBABY really know their food stuff. Their company makes organic baby and toddler food such as frozen organic baby food cubes, baby snacks, cereal, and more. This section is almost all perks and has the following features…
- Breastfeeding nutritional info including breastfeeding myths and facts, mama health, latching on help, breast milk storage, weaning and more.
- Feeding your baby solids which includes information on when to feed, the best nutritious foods, baby food textures, problems you may run into, finger foods, beverages for baby, food allergies, and a run down on baby food types (jarred, homemade, frozen, etc).
- A large section on making your own homemade baby food with tips on how to get started (yes it’s super easy), ingredients, prep, the cooking process, charts on how to prepare specific veggies, fruits, and meats, storage information, flavor for baby and many excellent recipes that you’ve probably never thought of before but that your baby will adore.
- The entire last section of part 2 focuses on healthy feeding tips, advice, how to get your child to love veggies and other healthy foods, and so much more.
THE BAD:
This book is a green and healthy baby care book yet the book itself is not printed on recycled paper. Or if it is, I couldn’t find that information. When green books are printed on virgin paper it really irks me. The book is available in ebook format which is nice, but doesn’t help if you’d like to own a hard copy. If you’re feeling book guilt you can plant some trees in exchange for this book though.
The book seems to focus on some major green brands but not some other (better) but more obscure green brands. For example, Seventh Generation, who I like in some ways, has a coupon in the back of the book and the book recommends their diapers as having less of an impact on the planet – which really they don’t. There are many greener diaper choices. Seventh Generation has some health perks for your baby and I’d suggest them over say, Huggies, but overall it’s just a dressed up as “natural” disposable diaper. In any case Seventh Generation is peppered throughout the book and it makes me wonder if they were a partner or something. They also suggest some odd choices of safer diaper creams but leave out one of the safest on the market – Earth Mama Angel Baby.
The cleaning supply section is questionable. I like their make your own green cleaners section, but some of the store-bought ‘greener’ cleaners they suggest come from companies that conduct animal testing, contribute to pollution by means of their other bleach filled products, or that contain ingredients not made public (i.e. they likely are toxic and suck).
Someone wrote up the green resources without doing their homework. For example The Good Guide is listed more than once as a place to find greener and safer products and I think this is a terrible place to compare green products. Some cool green resources, books, and websites were left out too (although they did have many nice ones) but overall it seems like someone who is not completely into green living wrote the resource section.
OVERALL SCORE:
4 out of 5 trees!
As a green baby book only, I’d likely have given this book a lower score (a three). However, since the main bulk of this book is feeding your baby, and because the feeding sections were excellent in my opinion, I bumped this book up to 4 trees. The book loses a point for not being printed on recycled paper and because some of the other non-feeding green sections could have been more informed.
Overall if you want to learn to make green and healthy foods for your child from day one and raise a healthy and happy eater this is a must own book. Get your own copy of HappyBaby The Organic Guide to Baby’s First 24 Months.
See my Green Product Review Criteria
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PS – HAPPYBABY was recently nominated by Shine A Light as one of the three most inspiring small companies in the U.S. which is a huge honor and in order for them to win, they need your vote. They’re the only green company in the running, so it’d be really cool if they win. VOTE for HAPPYBABY!
