Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother

Godmothers Staff Pick: “As a person who worries a lot, naturally, I did not need the ‘What to Expect’–type books—which seem like long lists of worst-case scenarios—during pregnancy. What I did need: ‘Great With Child,’ a collection of letters that poet Beth Ann Fennelly wrote to a newly pregnant friend. I’m still trying to parent by its thoughtful, beautifully written missives. (’Accept mediocrity. Be underwhelming. You can’t do everything, so choose some things to sacrifice, and absolve yourself from guilt.’)” —Kim

Beth Ann Fennelly, writing to a newly pregnant friend, goes beyond the nuts and bolts or sentimentality of other parenting literature, in letters that range in tone from serious to sisterly, from lighthearted to downright funny. Some answer specific questions; others muse about the identity shift a woman encounters when she enters Mommyland. This book invites all mothers to join the grand circle of giving and receiving advice about children.