Author/Editor: Susan Quayle
Publisher: Singing Dragon
Rating: WORTHY!
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review. The chance to read a new book is reward aplenty!
Illustrated by Melissa Muldoon.
A 2009 systematic review of randomized controlled trials concludes: "The best evidence available to date does not demonstrate convincingly that reflexology is an effective treatment for any medical condition."
Having got that out of the way, who doesn’t like a good foot massage?! As long as you do no harm, it certainly can’t hurt, and if it works for your child, then go for it! I know I would have welcomed pretty much anything that worked whilst trying to calm down two baby boys in succession!
This foot-massage is couched within a story designed specifically for children, about a rather persnickety mouse who is having a hard time finding a cozy place to settle down for the winter. I'm not convinced that a locale that's baldly out in the open is the best place, but it’s her choice, and the mouse is determined to make her new home work, so off she goes to various animal friends (and it's nice for once to see a snake not represented as evil incarnate!) to seek their advice. There's nothing wrong with that. Smart mouse! No wonder they're everywhere!
The pages have colorful pictures illustrating moments in mouse life, and alternate pages have sing-song rhymes to read to your child as you massage their feet. Heck, I’d take this treatment now, let alone when I was a kid!
One of the most important things you can do with a child is to make frequent physical contact and to communicate often (and in the friendliest manner you can muster for your mood!). At first it doesn’t even matter what you say, only that you say it lovingly, warmly, and softly, even if it’s nonsense. As the child matures, these poems offer a chance for non-nonsense communication, and are quite charming. They will certainly help to maintain contact and communication in support of the foot rubs.
There are copious instructions on how to conduct the massage, gently, with thumbs and fingers, applying light pressure. And let’s face it, if you do it right, then there's every chance the child might return the favor when you are the one who needs care! That would be my dream, anyway!
Despite my reservations about eastern "alternative medicine", I would still recommend this book as a great way to start out right with your new baby by fostering the perfect kind of parent-child intimacy, which will encourage your child to grow to be warm, socialized, and loving, and that's all any parent needs to hope for.
