Baby Greens, by Michaela Lynn

By Michaela Lynn and Michael Chrisemer

Baby Greens is a delightful and informative book on adding raw foods into the diet of children. In the introduction, author Michaela Lynn describes her search for answers about raw foods first for herself and later for babies and kids. She mentions her frustration at not finding a book on those topics. She finally comes to realize that she is supposed to write that book! Lynn makes it clear that Baby Greens is not meant to promote a rigid diet but rather to help families of all dietary persuasions add more living foods to their repertoire.

Part one of Baby Greens is a collection of essays on health and bioenergetic nutrition written by Michael Chrisemer, N.C. Chrisemer's essays are readable and educational. He covers a variety of topics ranging from enzymes, toxins, sea vegetables, vitamins, and water to breastfeeding. Each essay is short and to the point. They are packed with information that will inspire the reader to explore each topic more in-depth. I was fascinated to learn about the homeopathic qualities of sea vegetables. I was likewise pleased to read that Chrisemer makes correlations between breastfeeding behavior and later eating habits. His bits of wisdom make perfect sense to me. In his essay "Putting it All Together," Chrisemer discusses children and their need for autonomy. He shares an anecdote about a pudding pie he craved after seeing a TV commercial. Instead of denying him the experience of the pie, his mother bought it for him. He found the pie to be much different from his expectations and he never asked for another. Had his mother denied him that experience, he might have missed out on an important opportunity for growth.

Part two of Baby Greens is all about food recipes and activities. This is where the book really shines. Each page is filled with whimsical drawings, helpful hints and great recipes. Lynn covers everything from pregnancy nutrition to feeding a baby old who is enough for solids to getting your bigger kid to help prepare the meal. I decided to truly put this book to the test. I would need to prepare and consume (with my kids of course!) as many of the meals as possible. We started out by making Cupid's Soup from page 72. This is a delicious mixture of beets and apples that my children both happily gobbled up. The next recipe we tried was from page 92, the carrot-raisin salad. This is a twist on the traditional made with mayonnaise. The flavor of this new carrot raisin salad is fantastic! I made it for a playgroup, and it was very well received by everyone. Since I've had the book, I've made about a half dozen of the recipes and have been very pleased with all of them. I also found the games and resources in the back of the book to be especially fun and helpful. I even located a source for organic avocados right down the road from me.

Baby Greens is such a lovely book and should be in the library of every new parent. The authors are never judgmental. They offer gentle suggestions for improving on current diets rather than advocating for a raw-only lifestyle. You can hear the respect and love in the tone of the writing. I find the compassionate language used throughout the pages to be very soothing. This book is such a pleasure to read and I cannot recommend it enough.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.