Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

Did I share the great news that I'm going to be Aunt-ed again! My brother A3 and Dayna are expecting their second baby, my 6th niece or nephew sometime in February; trying to prepare my niece S (now 1.5 yrs!) for the new baby, they've asked me for book suggestions. Thought I would share what I've found. When Mom’s Preggo: On Mother’s Lap , Ann Herbert Scott Not Yet, Rose , Susanna Leonard Hill Waiting for Baby , Rachel Fuller Waiting for Baby , Harriet Ziefert There’s Going to be a Baby , John Burningham And for when the baby arrives: My New Baby , Annie Kubler Hello Baby! , Lizzy Rockwell The New Baby , Harold Gray Shane I’m a New Big Sister , Nora & Gutierrez Gaydos Best Ever Big Sister , Karen Katz I’m a Big Sister, Joanna Cole The New Baby at Your House , Joanne Cole My New Baby , Rachel Fuller We Have a Baby , Cathryn Falwell Also, my best friend Kim had her first baby ON MY BIRTHDAY! What a present, eh? Got to go see her ...

In a recent order our large print copy of Julia Pandl's Memoir of the Sunday Brunch arrived. I checked it in, and curiosity got the better of me, so I flipped to the back and read the synopsis; it read something vague, like, "a story of a woman looking back on her life and her time working in her father's restaurant as a teenager..." or something like that...enough to intrigue me. I finally got around to reading the book this weekend and enjoyed it for many reasons, but mostly because I appreciated the parallels in our lives: we've both worked in Kitchens; are the babies of our families, are both Catholic with very devout mothers and skeptical, though believing fathers; had insane workaholic fathers. I had to laugh outloud when I read certain passages, it was as though someone had stolen lines from my own teen journal! The story looks at her family, but really focuses on George Pandl, Julia's Dad--the first half of the book chronicles her young years an...