Book Review: The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio, Baby Wise

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio- Terry Ryan

I LOVED this book! A memoir written by the daughter, it's a story of how one woman raised her 10 children in the 1950's-'60's with an alcoholic husband/father. She supported them by winning writing contests. 25 words or less, jingles, short stories, etc. Time and time again she pulled her family out of a tough spot by winning a contest. She never gave up and always had a positive attitude. It's filled with funny stories (that only come from  a houseful of 10 kids) and examples of her rhymes and lyrics. To be honest poetry isn't my strong suit so I didn't always understand her jingles, but that didn't matter. I loved the message of this true story. You can always make your situation better if you work hard enough. There's also the message of a mother's true love and selflessness for her children. She won prize after prize after prize and the money always went toward supporting her kids and their dreams. As I'm getting ready to be a mother myself this book took on a whole different meaning for me: how can I be a mother like that? No, I won't have to submit thousands of entries to win $5 and pay for a new pair of glasses, but I can still teach my children the value of hard work and determination and optimism. I genuinely enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone/everyone! (You can find a used copy totally cheap on Amazon).

On Becoming Baby Wise- Gary Ezzo

When I first found out I was pregnant I bought 3 different books on pregnancy. I stopped reading within a few weeks because first, they all say the same things so you really only need one and 2, they were boring. So I'm not a big reader when it comes to pregnancy. Getting my baby to sleep? That's a whole other story! I heard about this book from a few different people and finally got around to ordering it. I read it in one afternoon. I skipped a few parts where they get technical when talking about babies 7 months and older because at the moment, I just want to know how to get my baby to sleep through the night by 7-8 weeks. Yes please! It's a pretty big claim...but this guy says he has the magic formula to make it happen. Being the sleep diva that I am, I would love to be able to get my baby sleeping 8-10 hours a night by the time I have to get back to work. This book made me nervous/excited/apprehensive/curious/etc about having a new baby. It was a pretty easy read and I realize I will be reading it again and again once the baby gets here. Plus, I will follow up in 4 months and let you know if my 8 week old is sleeping through the night!