Catholic Book Spotlight: Rocking the Cradle Catholic by Mary Moore reviewed by Sarah Reinhard

After hearing about Rocking the Cradle Catholic: Raising Little Saints in a Lukewarm World when Greg and Jennifer Willits interviewed author Mary Moore on The Catholics Next Door and then when Lisa interviewed her on Catholic Moments, I knew I had to read it.

I did what ever self-respecting book-addicted bookworm does and checked both Amazon and The Catholic Company.  Seeing that it was going to be three to four weeks for shipping, I shamelessly emailed Lisa for the Mary Moore’s contact information, thinking of things I could bribe her with to get a copy sooner.

Lisa Hendey, proving her candidacy for living sainthood, offered me an extra copy she had AND she mailed it to me so I received it prior to a big trip that would give me a rare pocket of reading time.

As it turns out, I didn’t need a big pocket of time.  I read it in a day.

(Part of that was because of unexpected help with my kids, mind you.)

In my defense, I’ll be rereading it, just as soon as I get it back from my sister-in-law and then my best friend.  I’ll be going through it slowly and marking it up on my next trip through it, though I’ve already started thinking about the ideas in it.

This is the kind of book that won’t make it to your bookshelf because you’ll be too busy referencing it.  Then again, maybe it will…but I don’t think my copy will ever get any dust on it.  While the ideas seem easy to remember, there are many of them, and they’re packaged in the kind of short chapters that both busy parents and frazzled readers can appreciate.

Moore writes from the trenches, and she offers ideas that don’t make me roll my eyes.  Reading this book is like having a good friend give you her favorite tips and then offer to watch the kids while you think about them.

Though Moore won’t come over and watch your kids, you may find your approach to raising your kids is a little different after reading her book.  You might, in fact, find yourself renewed and inspired just enough to get you to try some of the excellent tips she gives.

Enjoy this book, and after you’ve read it, stop back and let me know what your favorite part of it was.

Copyright 2010 Sarah Reinhard