Jamie C. Martin

Yeah, basically all the highlights with this book.

I ugly-cried while reading it.

Although it's by a mom who has one biological child and two adopted children, it helped me relax a little about the decision of whether or not to have a second kid. There is a reason why having one might be okay for me, even if I kind of want another one--I am an introvert! One would offer a lot of the benefits my introvert heart craves, but I am not ready to close the door just yet. The author also showed me that introverts can still survive... sort of... when there are multiple kids, lol

Essentially, though, thriving as an introvert mom is what this book is about. Committing to fewer things, doing things that feed your soul (if only for fifteen minutes at a time), and even letting go of the guilt of some stages of your kids' life not being your favorite and getting more help with those stages.

I'm still not into the "God's plan" type theology after losing a baby, but the author doesn't focus on theology too much, so I still felt like the book was spiritually beneficial to me. You don't have to believe God has planned the minutiae of your life in order to be able to nod when a fellow introvert mom tells you to "say no" to something unless it's a "definite yes" for you or someone in your immediate family. The author acknowledges some mistakes she had made in the past about sharing her Christian perspective, and she apparently learned from her experience--she is not pushy about faith, but does offer her own story.… (more)

I love books about books, and this one is great for parents who are wanting to streamline their library visits and get to the best-of-the-best for titles with a global theme for ages 4-12.

In the first 40-ish pages, we are introduced to author Jamie Martin and her global family. She shares the story of how they came to be (LOVE IT!) and offers some practical, doable ideas for how we can broaden our understanding of the world with our children. Next up leads us to the premise of the book: build your family culture around books, and travel together around the world with great books.

The book lists are organized by region and age interest level. They list title, author, illustrator when applicable and a short synopsis of the book. Sometimes, we'll have a note on whether a book contains religious elements, in case a parents wishes to avoid or have a discussion prior/after.

The indexes are helpful. We have one by author, one by country/region, and historical index, and title index. This will help you on your library hunt. (by the way, if your library allows you to reserve a bunch of titles on hold, do it! Let them do the legwork of finding your books and putting them together for you. Makes library visits with little ones easier. Get your holds and browse, or get your holds and get on outta there. Oh, and if your library doesn't have a title, find out if they do interlibrary loan.)

Sprinkled throughout the book recommendations, we hear many families answer the question: "How do you give your child the world in your home?"

Now. As I love good book lists and we read a ton around here, I will say that many of the titles I already recognized from our own library perusal or other book lists. Some Five in a Row titles are within; and others I have found already from my treasured All Through the Ages by Christine Miller. There is some overlap in titles for this book and Miller's. In Martin's book, we have a longer synopsis. One area where Miller's book has an edge, is it simply has way more titles (plus, history and geography and more sections), and it also reaches interest levels beyond the age 10-12 set; Miller's reaches high school.

That said, there are some new-to-me titles in Martin's book, and there are certainly room for both books on my bookshelf. I will use both when browsing titles when we're doing a regional study, country study, or just wanting to add some more living books to our library list.… (more)