10 BEAUTIFUL BOOKS ON THE BEAUTY OF MOTHERS NOW
This week we are celebrating Beautiful Motherhood. We begin with a collection of beautiful new books that do the same. Perfect for Mother’s Day. Wonderful for any day you want to connect with the beauty that mothers give to the world.
1. EARTH AND SPACE: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ARCHIVES OF NASA
Mother Earth. The mother of all mothers is especially beautiful to behold when viewed from above, as she spins and flows through space.
Earth and Space: Photographs from the Archives of NASA
Chronicle Books (2015)
2. THREE MANY COOKS: ONE MOM, TWO DAUGHTERS: THEIR SHARED STORIES OF FOOD, FAITH, & FAMILY
Three Many Cooks: One Mom, Two Daughters: Their Shared Stories of Food, Faith & Family
Pam, Maggy and Sharon, now run the successful food blog, Three Many Cooks. It is a beautiful effort of collaboration between three women sharing their love of food and each other.
Through the successes and failures in their kitchen and the lessons they’ve learned through cooking together, Pam, Maggy, and Sharon navigate mother-daughter relationship challenges and reap their rewards.
The joy this family finds in creating, competing, and keeping up traditions in the kitchen just might inspire you to embark on culinary adventures with your own mother and/or kids. The book includes the family’s beloved recipes to get your started.
“This beautiful book is a stirring, candid, powerful celebration of mothers, daughters, and sisters, and of family, food, and faith. The stories are relatable and real, and are woven perfectly with the time-tested, mouthwatering recipes. I loved every page, every word, and am adding this to the very small pile of books in my life that I know I’ll pick up and read again and again.”
— Ree Drummond, New York Times bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Ballantine Books (2015)
3. A LETTER TO MY MOM
A Letter to My Mom
The letters include those from both regular folk and celebrities, including Christy Turlington, Shania Twain, Melissa Rivers, and will.i.am. The book includes beautiful, sometimes intimate, photos as well as mini biographies at the end of the book about each letter’s author.
Crown Archetype (2015)
4. DREAMS OF MY MOTHERS: A STORY OF LOVE TRANSCENDENT
Dreams of My Mothers, by Joel L. A. Peterson, is the story of a biracial boy who leaves his mother and his native country and makes a new life in the United States with a new adoptive mother.
Both mothers love him. Their love transcends their circumstance. Both mothers support him, make sacrifices for him, and nurture him. And both play a role in his success and happiness. He triumphs over challenges he faces because of his identity, race, and physical handicaps. The mothers have both done very, very well.
Huff Publishing Associates (2015)
5. MY MOTHER, MY DAUGHTER, MY SISTER, MY SELF: THREE GENERATIONS OF POETRY
This poetry collection covers the span of nearly a century and circles the globe, tracing the experiences of a family of women and the personal growth their experiences sparked.
My Mother, My Daughter, My Sister, My Self, by Faith Ruth, Patricia Collins, Laura P. McCarty, and Penny F Bagby, is a collection of poetry that spans nearly a century. It traces the experiences of four women across three generations.
Patricia Ruth (2014)
6. THE BODIES OF MOTHERS: A BEAUTIFUL BODY PROJECT
The Bodies of Mothers, by Jade Beall, is the first book from the Beautiful Body Project, which aims to reshape the media’s idealized perceptions of women’s bodies by photographing women in all stages of life without any retouching.
This book shares stories of motherhood, covering a variety of topics, such as weight gain and loss, dysmorphia, and aging.
The goal of this project is to empower all mothers, by inspiring them to appreciate the beauty of their own bodies in every state of their being.
Green Writers Press (2014)
7. THE GLOW: AN INSPIRING GUIDE TO STYLISH MOTHERHOOD
The Glow: An Inspiring Guide to Stylish Motherhood
“From the beautifully intimate moments captured to advice on everything from nursery décor to recipes, fitness and beauty, this book will surely be a secret weapon for chic moms everywhere.”
— HarpersBazaar.com
Stewart, Tabori and Chang (2014)
8. ONE PERFECT DAY: A MOTHER AND SON’S STORY OF ADOPTION AND REUNION
One Perfect Day: A Mother and Son's Story of Adoption and Reunion a new book by Diane Burke and Steve Orlandi, addresses the question of what family means through a story of adoption.
A mother of two receives a letter from a son she gave up for adoption forty years prior, and is thrown into turmoil by his sudden reappearance. The beauty of forgiveness, and of a child well-raised, come through in both mother and son’s accounts.
“Burke’s depiction of her challenging journey reveals her extraordinary capacity for forgiveness and trust.”
— Publishers Weekly
Skyhorse Publishing (2014)
9. ESSENCE OF A MOTHER: BEING CONSCIOUS OF THE SACRED MOMENTS OF MOTHERHOOD
Julie Jensen used to do a lot for her kids, like most mothers do. As Multiple Sclerosis emerged and took over her body, she began to do a lot less physically for them. But while her muscles weakened, Jensen maintained the true source of her power -- the motherly power within. Check out her beautifully written memoir, Essence of a Mother: Being Conscious of the Sacred Moments of Motherhood
Skirt! ( 2014)
10. ON BECOMING A MOTHER: WELCOMING YOUR NEW BABY AND YOUR NEW LIFE WITH WISDOM FROM AROUND THE WORLD
On Becoming a Mother: Welcoming Your New Baby and Your New Life with Wisdom from Around the World, by Brigid McConville, can get a mother-to-be up to speed beautifully.
She will learn about the Mexican rebozo used to rock the belly and ease back pain during pregnancy. If she wears bangles, as Bengali women do, she’ll learn to take them off so she can visualize a speedy labor, and more.
From East African baby carriers, called kangas to the Japanese ritual where Sumo wrestlers are asked to make infants cry, this book is filled with multicultural charm, wit, and motherly goodness.
"Gorgeous"
— Daily Telegraph
Oneworld Publications (2014)
Read more about Beautiful Motherhood, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact.
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IMAGE CREDITS:
- Image: Courtesy of NASA. Blue Marble.
- Image: Courtesy of Chronicle Books. Earth and Space: Photographs From the Archives of NASA.
- Image: Courtesy of Ballantine Books. Three Many Cooks: One Mom, Two Daughters: Their Shared Stories of Food, Faith, & Family.
- Image: Courtesy of Crown Archetype. A Letter To My Mom.
- Image: Courtesy of Huff Publishing Associates. Dreams of My Mothers: A Story of Love Transcendent.
- Image: Courtesy of Patricia Ruth. My Mother, My Daughter, My Sister, My Self: Three Generations of Poetry.
- Image: Courtesy of Green Writers Press. The Bodies of Mothers: A Beautiful Body Project.
- Image: Courtesy of Stewart, Tabori and Chang. The Glow: An Inspiring Guide to Stylish Motherhood.
- Image: Courtesy of Skyhorse Publishing. One Perfect Day: A Mother and Son’s Story of Adoption and Reunion.
- Image: Courtesy of Skirt! Books. Essence of a Mother: Being Conscious of the Sacred Moments of Motherhood.
- Image: Courtesy of Oneworld Publications. On Becoming a Mother: Welcoming Your New Baby and Your New Life with Wisdom From the World.
- Image: Courtesy of NASA. Earth's Atmospheric Layers.
- Image: Courtesy of NASA/USGS. Isolated Island of Protected Forest Around New Zealand's Mt. Taranaki in Egmont National Park.
