I’ve already shared this all over Facebook, but wanted to mention it here too because I’m that excited 🙂 Quite some time ago the authors of the newest edition of the LLL classic, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, contacted me to see if they might include a partial version of my essay “Nursing Johnny Depp” (previously published in Literary Mama) in the book. Of course I said YES! The Womanly Art has been published since 1958 (that is more than 50 years) and it thrilled my little heart to be a tiny, tiny piece of that world-changing history. I have six copies of the WAB (different editions—including two of the old blue-covered editions) and so what a bonus to have another copy, but this time with my own voice within it. The book was released on July 13 and my copies have arrived in the mail. The excerpt of my essay was actually used as the introduction to the “Nursing Toddlers” chapter of the book and I feel proud to be part of it. (I was also humbled to see my name in the acknowledgments section, since, seriously, I really did hardly anything.)

I first read the WAB when I was pregnant with my first baby in 2003. This newest edition is updated with a very contemporary feel and an engaging style. One of the things I like about it is that it is so practical and a lot of the suggestions are very simple (yet, not necessarily obvious). It is written in the mother-to-mother support format that is the hallmark of LLL and the very core of the organization. I like that the book includes personal experiences from a variety of mothers as well as all kinds of suggestions based on what, “some mothers have found.” Those are the kind of suggestions a new breastfeeding mother needs—not advice or directions or orders or “prescriptions,” but information about what other mothers have found helpful—she can then take what works for her and her baby and leave the rest. Love it!