In the colorful small town of Cherico, Mississippi, librarian Maura Beth McShay is preparing for an exciting new installment in her own life story—with some help from the Cherry Cola Book Club. Overseeing the opening of Cherico’s new library has been a labor of love for Maura Beth McShay, made extra challenging by the fact that she and Jeremy are expecting their first child. And there’s another plot twist on the horizon: Jeremy’s sister, Elise, has taken a sabbatical to have a baby and will be staying in Cherico during her pregnancy. It’s an unlikely move for the fiercely independent Elise, one that’s causing her some anxiety. Jeremy, who’s supposed to be birthing the Great American Novel, is instead testing his wife’s patience with his incessant “sympathy pains.” Resourceful as always, Maura Beth decides to use her new library as a venue for “Expecting Great Things” meetings—a sequel to her beloved book club. The weekly gatherings allow townsfolk to share hopes, fears, and practical advice about parenting and pregnancy, along with anecdotes both poignant and hilarious. And amongst the revelations and new friendships, Maura Beth, Jeremy, and the rest of the Cherry Cola Book Club prepare to meet their newest members . . . Praise for The Cherry Cola Book Club novels “An intrepid librarian, a book club feast, and a cozy, heart-warming Mississippi mystery—what's not to love?” —Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet “Lee’s buoyant David-versus-Goliath tale zestfully illuminates a real problem confronting libraries and cities of all sizes.” —Booklist

In an affluent suburb of Los Angeles, five rich young women meet for their regular Book Club. Far too wealthy to be concerned by plebeian needs such as having jobs, they share their lives and their hopes and dreams over discussing the latest book... and more than a little wine. Then one day, one of them suggests a new book - The Baby of the Baskervilles - a story of a couple who have a baby girl living with them who is neither a baby nor a girl. She is an adult baby, dressed and trained to be an infant. To most of them, it is nothing more than a weird and odd story of the type they love to discuss. In a world of wealth, extravagance and having whatever she wants, one thing has eluded three-times-married Chelsea - a baby. The idea of an adult baby like from the book unexpectedly appeals to her. No childbirth, no dealing with the teenage nightmare and a constant presence that desperately needs her, unlike any man she has ever met. And if that baby girl she craved happened to have a penis, so what? Babies were sexless anyhow! Chelsea had the money, the house, the time and the desire to have a baby, finally. And her Book Club friends would be the support and helpers she would need. But how do you find someone willing to give up their adult life in return for diapers, cribs, bottle-feeding, baby clothes and toys? A stunning debut novel from Madeline Wood.

The first complete guide-for use by adults and children-to creating fun and educational book clubs for kids. As authors of The Book Club Cookbook, the classic guide to integrating great food and food-related discussion into book club gatherings, Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp hear a common refrain from parents, librarians, teachers, community leaders and kids themselves: "How about writing a book for kids' book clubs?" Indeed, in recent years youth organizations, parents, libraries, schools, and our local, state, and federal governments have launched thousands of book clubs for children as a way to counter falling literacy rates and foster a love of reading. Based on surveys representing five hundred youth book clubs across the country and interviews with parents, kids, educators, and librarians, The Kids' Book Club Book features: _- the top fifty favorite book club reads for children ages eight to eighteen; _- ideas and advice on forming great kids' book clubs-and tips for kids who want to start their own book clubs; _- recipes, activities, and insights from such bestselling children's book authors as Christopher Paolini, Lois Lowry, Jerry Spinelli, Nancy Farmer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Andrew Clements, Laurie Halse Anderson, Norton Juster, and many others. From recipes for the Dump Punch and egg salad sandwiches included in Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie to instructionson how to make soap carvings like the ones left in the knot-hole of a tree in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, this book provides a bounty of ideas for making every kids' book club a success.

In an affluent suburb of Los Angeles, five rich young women meet for their regular Book Club. Far too wealthy to be concerned by plebeian needs such as having jobs, they share their lives and their hopes and dreams over discussing the latest book... and more than a little wine. Then one day, one of them suggests a new book - The Baby of the Baskervilles - a story of a couple who have a baby girl living with them who is neither a baby nor a girl. She is an adult baby, dressed and trained to be an infant. To most of them, it is nothing more than a weird and odd story of the type they love to discuss. In a world of wealth, extravagance and having whatever she wants, one thing has eluded three-times-married Chelsea - a baby. The idea of an adult baby like from the book unexpectedly appeals to her. No childbirth, no dealing with the teenage nightmare and a constant presence that desperately needs her, unlike any man she has ever met. And if that baby girl she craved happened to have a penis, so what? Babies were sexless anyhow! Chelsea had the money, the house, the time and the desire to have a baby, finally. And her Book Club friends would be the support and helpers she would need. But how do you find someone willing to give up their adult life in return for diapers, cribs, bottle-feeding, baby clothes and toys? A stunning debut novel from Madeline Wood.

Viewing Art with Babies demonstrates how to facilitate quality art viewing experiences with babies from as young as 2 months old. Such experiences can help to nurture early literacy and receptive language skills, sensory stimulation, and early brain development. Based on the author’s research with babies in New Zealand, Australia, Romania, England, and the U.S., the book provides the reader with information about early brain, vision, sensory and language development, and the aesthetic preferences of babies. Danko-McGhee provides details about the type of art that babies like, how to display art in the learning environment, and how to interact with a baby when viewing art. Case studies of international museums, national museums, and community agencies that have had success with engaging babies in art viewing experiences have been included in the book as a way of demonstrating how theory and research can be successfully put into practice. Viewing Art with Babies details practical ways through which museum practitioners, early childhood and community educators, and parents can provide artviewing experiences in the museum, early childhood classroom or even their own home. It will be of interest to practitioners and parents around the world, and those engaged in the study of museum education.

The sissy baby is a very common and wonderful part of the wide ABDL landscape. A boy/man that wants nappiesfor sure, but also panties and perhaps a bra. They want baby clothes like we all do, but mainly baby girl dresses - frilly bonnets, pink outfits, a pink dummy, dolls to play with, and a feminine crib and nursery. This collection of four wonderful books is all about that. About boys who want to be sissy baby girls, even if they don't know that at the beginning. These are not erotic tales of sissy sex or sizzling adventures into sissyhood. Rather, they are stories of how real-life sissy babies appear and develop and the people/family around them that embrace and enhance their lives. You will love these wonderful books and the characters you will meet as they discover and realise their true identity as a Sissy Baby Girl. The book titles are: ** A Mother's Love ** Home Detention ** The Book Club Baby ** Where Big Babies Live 167,000 words

An investigative journalist examines how marketers exploit infants and toddlers and the broad, often shocking impact of that exploitation on our society It's no secret that toy and media corporations manipulate the insecurities of parents to move their products, but Buy, Buy Baby unveils the chilling fact that these corporations are using -- and often funding -- the latest research in child development to sell directly to babies and toddlers. Susan Gregory Thomas offers even more unnerving epiphanies: the lack of evidence that "educational" shows and toys provide any educational benefit at all for young children and the growing evidence that some of these products actually impair early development and could harm our kids socially and cognitively for life. Underlying these revelations is a dangerous economic and cultural shift: our kids are becoming consumers at alarmingly young ages and suffering all the ills that rampant materialism used to visit only on adults -- from anxiety to hypercompetitiveness to depression. Thomas blends prodigious reportage with an empathetic voice. Her two daughters were toddlers while she wrote this book, and she never loses sight of the temporal and emotional challenges that parents face. She shows how we can help our kids live at their natural pace, not the frenetic clip that serves only the toddler-industrial complex. Buy, Buy Baby helps us fight the power marketers wield by exposing the false fears they spread.

The Nanny Diaries meets The Wedding Planner in this smart, dishy novel from the author of Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives—featuring a woman who runs San Francisco’s premier baby planning company and the mommies-to-be who seek out her services. Today’s trend seems to be that long before a professional woman’s baby bump becomes obvious under her Armani suit, she turns to San Francisco’s premier baby planner, Maddie McFadden, whose job it is to make her clients’ pregnancies emotionally painless. Maddie may make her living consulting with new moms on the latest and greatest baby gadgets no parent should be without, or which mommy meet-ups are the most socially desirable, but the success of her marriage to husband Brady depends on controlling her own urges toward motherhood. He’s adamant that they stay childless, but Maddie suspects it’s only because he’s still too upset that his out-of-town ex-wife rarely lets him see their eight-year-old son. Living vicariously through her clueless clients and her twin sisters’ precocious toddlers only makes Maddie’s biological clock tick louder. As she helps her newest client—Tyler Halstead, a stockbroker who must raise his newborn alone after the tragic death of his wife in childbirth—she tries her best to get pregnant “accidentally.” If that should happen, Brady will have to live with it… right? But when the unexpected happens, Maddie learns the most important life lesson of all: How we nurture is the true nature of love.

When Regina Burns married Blue Hamilton, she knew he was no ordinary man. A charismatic R&B singer who gave up his career to assume responsibility for the safety of Atlanta’s West End community, Blue had created an African American urban oasis where crime and violence were virtually nonexistent. In the beginning, Regina enjoyed a circle of engaging friends and her own work as a freelance communications consultant. Most of all, she relished the company of her husband, who never ceased to be a source of passion and delight. Then everything changed. More and more frightened women were showing up in West End, seeking Blue’s protection from lovers who had suddenly become violent. When the worst offenders begin to disappear without a trace, the signs–all of them grim–seem to point toward Blue and his longtime associate, Joseph “General” Richardson. Now that Regina is pregnant, her fear for Blue’s safety has become an obsession that threatens the very heart of their relationship. At the same time, Regina’s friend Aretha Hargrove is desperately trying to redefine her own marriage. Aretha’s husband, Kwame, is lobbying for them to leave West End and move to midtown. Aretha resists at first, but finally agrees in an effort to rekindle the flame that first brought them together. Regina and Aretha have no way of knowing that what they regard as their private struggles will soon become very public. When Baby Brother, a charming con man, insinuates himself into the community, it becomes clear that there is more to his handsome façade than meets the eye. He carries the seeds of change that will affect both women in profound and startling ways. Returning to the vividly rendered Atlanta district of her last two novels, New York Times bestselling author Pearl Cleage brilliantly weaves the threads of her characters’ intersecting lives into a story of family, friendship and, of course, love. Baby Brother’s Blues is full of wit and warmth, illumination the core of every woman’s hopes and dreams.