Book Reviews
Yvette O’Dowd has been a passionate reader since childhood. Her first pregnancy in the early 1980s saw her consuming the local library collection of books about pregnancy, childbirth, child development and child care. Having ignited a life-long interest in these subjects, Yvette went on to work at Merrily Merrily Enterprises [the retail arm of the Nursing Mothers’ Association of Australia (now known as The Australian Breastfeeding Association)] from 1995 - 2000. This included the recommendation and sale of books on breastfeeding and human lactation, parenting and related titles to both parents and health professionals.
From 2008 - 2013, Yvette ran The Breastfeeding Centre In Dandenong, Victoria - the Victorian Branch Office of the Australian Breastfeeding Association. Here she curated and maintained an extensive library of books available to both members and volunteers. When establishing the Southern Natural Parenting Network in 2014, Yvette had a vision of a collection of books available to members and the wider community, establishing a community library on wheels available at meets and events. Yvette’ family are resigned to her extensive personal collection! (Thank goodness for the digital revolution!)
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Browse Yvette’s recommendations:
Inventing Baby Food
This fascinating historical account explores how commercial baby food emerged in the 20th century and reshaped cultural expectations around infant feeding. Amy Bentley traces the shift from homemade, responsive feeding to industrialised convenience, examining how marketing, gender roles, and medicalisation influenced what — and how — babies are fed.
Sweet Sleep – La Leche League International
This comprehensive book supports breastfeeding families in understanding infant sleep, with a strong focus on safe bedsharing practices. It blends practical advice, real stories, and evidence-based research to help families sleep more peacefully while protecting the breastfeeding relationship.
No-Drama Discipline
This insightful book reframes discipline as teaching, not punishment. Siegel and Bryson explain how to respond to misbehaviour with empathy and connection while guiding children to make better choices, all backed by neuroscience.
Why Breastfeeding Matters
This short, accessible guide covers the biological, emotional, and societal reasons why breastfeeding remains important in the modern world. It dismantles myths and empowers parents with the knowledge to make informed choices.
Breastfeeding Without Birthing
This groundbreaking guide supports non-gestational parents — including adoptive, intended, and LGBTQ+ parents — in inducing lactation or relactating to breastfeed or chestfeed. Alyssa Schnell, an IBCLC and adoptive mother herself, combines clinical guidance with emotional support and affirming language to walk families through the process with compassion and clarity.
The World Until Yesterday – Jared Diamond
In this sweeping cross-cultural analysis, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jared Diamond draws on decades of fieldwork to examine how traditional societies manage childcare, elder care, conflict, diet, and more. He explores what modern, industrialised cultures can learn from Indigenous and ancestral ways of life — without romanticising or oversimplifying them.
The Whole-Brain Child
This groundbreaking book explains how a child’s brain is wired and how it matures. Using neuroscience made accessible, the authors introduce 12 key strategies to support emotional regulation and healthy brain development in children.
A Passion for Birth
This engaging and visually rich book offers a sweeping look at the journey of birth around the world. Through photographs, personal stories, cultural commentary, and evidence-based insight, renowned social anthropologist and birth advocate Sheila Kitzinger celebrates the diversity and power of childbirth. It is part celebration, part critique of modern obstetrics, and entirely dedicated to honouring women's voices.
Mothers and Others
In this landmark work, anthropologist and primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy explores how human cooperation — particularly in parenting — evolved. She argues that our species' survival depended not just on mothers, but on “alloparents”: grandparents, siblings, and community members who helped raise children. This shared caregiving fostered empathy, communication, and social intelligence — the roots of what makes us human.
Making More Milk
This practical, research-based guide is focused on understanding and increasing milk production. It covers the biology of lactation, common causes of low supply, and tailored strategies for building or restoring milk volume. The book empowers readers with knowledge about hormones, latch, milk removal, and supplementation options.
Baby-Led Weaning
This influential guide introduces the concept of baby-led weaning — allowing babies to feed themselves solid foods from the start, rather than being spoon-fed purées. Rapley and Murkett explain how babies can safely explore food at their own pace, developing autonomy, coordination, and a healthy relationship with food through responsive, family-based mealtimes.
Breastfeeding Older Children
This groundbreaking and often provocative book documents the realities of breastfeeding beyond babyhood — into the preschool and school-aged years. Drawing on in-depth interviews, cultural research, and personal experience, Ann Sinnott explores the physical, emotional, and societal aspects of nursing older children, while challenging deeply ingrained Western taboos.
The Science of Parenting
This accessible guide draws on the latest neuroscience to explain how early experiences shape a child’s brain development. Margot Sunderland offers practical strategies for promoting emotional wellbeing, regulating behaviour, and building strong parent-child connections — all grounded in science and compassion.
The Politics of Birth
In this powerful and provocative work, Sheila Kitzinger explores how birth has become a battleground shaped by institutional power, medicalisation, and cultural control. Drawing on decades of advocacy, research, and lived experience, she highlights the importance of informed choice, bodily autonomy, and respectful care — calling for a transformation in the way society treats birthing women.
Unconditional Parenting
In Unconditional Parenting, educator and author Alfie Kohn challenges traditional approaches to discipline and behaviour management. He argues that rewards and punishments — including praise — can undermine a child’s intrinsic motivation and sense of self. Instead, he advocates for parenting based on unconditional love, respect, and thoughtful guidance.
Buddhism for Mothers
Blending gentle wisdom with practical parenting, Buddhism for Mothers offers emotional support and mindful guidance for mothers seeking calm and connection in the chaos of early parenthood. Drawing from Buddhist principles — presence, compassion, acceptance, and non-attachment — Sarah Napthali writes with warmth and honesty about the real inner work of parenting.
Tandem Nursing – Hilary Flower
This comprehensive and reassuring book explores the experience of breastfeeding during pregnancy and tandem nursing after a new baby is born. Hilary Flower combines research, expert input, and dozens of personal stories to offer both practical guidance and emotional support to parents navigating this unique stage of the breastfeeding journey.
Parenting from the Inside Out
This pioneering book blends neuroscience and psychology to show how a parent’s self-understanding can profoundly shape their relationship with their child. By reflecting on one’s own childhood and emotional patterns, parents can become more attuned, responsive, and emotionally available.
The Politics of Breastfeeding
This powerful and meticulously researched book reveals how global politics, economics, and marketing have shaped — and often undermined — breastfeeding practices. Gabrielle Palmer exposes the deep influence of the formula industry, challenges the myth of choice in feeding decisions, and calls for systemic change to protect and promote breastfeeding worldwide.
Touchpoints – T. Berry Brazelton
In this classic work of developmental pediatrics, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton outlines key “touchpoints” — predictable periods of regression and growth in a child’s early years. He offers compassionate, stage-by-stage guidance on everything from sleep and feeding to social and emotional milestones, all rooted in deep respect for the child-parent relationship.