What Critics Get Wrong About Alicia Silverstone's New Book

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America: The land where What to Expect When You're Expecting has sold more than 34 million copies as the self-proclaimed "pregnancy Bible" since its publication in the mid-eighties. Nevermind that it inflates hypochondriac concerns in a patronizing tone. Nevermind that until 2008, its diet recommendations emphasized carbs and listed bran muffins as an indulgence. Enter Alicia Silverstone, whose book The Kind Mama was just released April 15th. In her "Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and A Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning," Silverstone advocates for purposeful pregnancy and parenting choices such as a plant-rich diet, natural birth, co-sleeping, and breastfeeding. But in response, online book critics has been anything but kind.

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French & American Children's Fiction: Comparing Cultural Clues

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As my children grow towards school-age, we're reading a larger variety of short stories in French and English, and I'm delighting in the subtle differences along the way. Fiction stories are culture capsules--they rarely reveal culture overtly, but the more one reads, the more one sees how the stories reflect cultural tendencies. At the risk of wading into stereotypes, I'll share the key differences I've noticed:

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Remembering Easter in France: Church, Chimes, & Chocolate

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This week between Palm Sunday and Easter, Holy Week, brings back my memories of Easter (Pâques) in France. During my first exchange in France ten years ago, I lived on the campus of a Protestant theology school in Aix-en-Provence. (That's unusual for a homestay situation, but my host parents were employed there.) On Easter morning, a French friend drove me to an outdoor Easter sunrise service in a nearby village; the sunrise was glorious and I appreciated the opportunity to celebrate the resurrection of Christ with a small group of wonderful French families.

Afterwards, my host maman, host soeur and I had lunch at a friend's home where we enjoyed a meal featuring a succulent roast lamb--the first time I'd ever tasted lamb. (I'd been vegetarian for a few months before I lived in France, but chose to expand my eating preferences to educate my taste buds and to make meal preparation easier on my host family. I've eaten meat ever since.) It was far better than the mutton (aged sheep) I'd eaten in England!

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