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Review: Don’t Sit on the Baby! by Halley Bondy

Book Review and Content, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
Don't Sit on the Baby by Halley Bondy

Don’t Sit on the Baby!, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Sane, Skilled, and Safe Babysitting
Halley Bondy
Zest Books
Published September 6, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Don’t Sit on the Baby!

Babysitting is one of the most popular part-time jobs for teens, but caring for kids is no easy feat. Offering useful tips on everything from navigating naptime to negotiating pay rates, this funny, no-nonsense guide covers all the basics any babysitting hopeful needs to know and much more. This revised edition includes updated ideas for finding jobs, keeping kids–and yourself–safe, and handling behavioral challenges. Learn what to expect from kids ages 0 to 10, how to land (and keep) the perfect babysitting gig, what to do in situations ranging from dirty diapers to emergencies, and how to communicate with parents. Plus, read real-life stories from teens about their experiences on the job.

My Review

My favorite thing about this book is how practical it is. It’s broken down into specific sections about issues babysitters could face. Things like how to navigate mealtime with kids of different ages, and what to expect in terms of entertaining kids of varying ages. Many of the chapters are broken down into individual parts with information on caring for kids of specific ages, like infants, toddlers, preschoolers, etc.

The book also gives some basic tips for how to find babysitting jobs, what to do in an interview with a prospective client, and how to quit a job that isn’t working for you. I like that the book covers so many different topics and gives solid, foundational advice.

All in all, this is the kind of book I wish I’d had as a young babysitter. I learned a lot from caring for my youngest sister as well as on the job, but it would have been great to have a resource like this. I think this would make a great read for older siblings who are responsible to care for younger ones and for kids looking to get out there and make some money babysitting.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Aimed at any kids looking to babysit. Does mention asking parents about accommodations for kids with disabilities or allergies.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Offers safety tips for meeting with potential clients.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of DON’T SIT ON THE BABY! in exchange for my honest review.

Spotlight: Zero Waste Life by Anita Vandyke

Nonfiction, , , , , ,

Zero Waste Life
Anita Vandyke
Vintage Australia
Published April 1, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About Zero Waste Life

A practical guide to improving your life–and your impact on the world–in thirty simple days by radically reducing waste without losing your lifestyle.

Overwhelmed by clutter, anxious about your environmental footprint, and looking to make a change? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to reconfigure your consumption–still, it doesn’t hurt that Anita Vandyke is. A qualified engineer and the eco-luxe lifestyle champion behind the popular zero-waste Instagram @Rocket-Science, Anita Vandyke has made the change to a zero-waste life, and through hands-on advice and charming illustrations, she shows us that with ease and style, we can too.

By incorporating thirty simple rules one day at a time, A Zero Waste Life is a manageable guide to forming a more conscientious, intentional life in just one month. Offered inside is guidance for tackling waste and making ethical choices when it comes to shopping, eating, travel, beauty, and more. With her signature elegance and encouraging voice, Vandyke proves that we can stop depending on plastics, tidy our homes, and clear the way for a cleaner future–and that when we stop wasting, we start living.

When people hear of the conservationist lifestyle, it sounds idealistic and undesirable—a life spent sacrificing conveniences and laboring over smelly compost. Not quite so, according to stylish lifestyle expert, social influencer, and qualified rocket scientist Anita Vandyke, whose popular Instagram (@Rocket_Science) documenting her hip, conservationist lifestyle has amassed more than 82,000 followers, and who is the author of the upcoming, much anticipated, beautifully illustrated, and highly readable guidebook A Zero Waste Life in Thirty Days.

Releasing just in time for Earth Day (April 22, 2020), A Zero Waste Life in Thirty Days makes it easy—even convenient, fun, and envy producing!—to become a conservationist. Inside, Vandyke elegantly and encouragingly invites readers to follow a simple, manageable plan that will incorporate sustainable techniques into their lives one day at a time over a 30-day period, and leave them with a more intentional, fulfilling, and Earth-friendly lifestyle.

Vandyke focuses on incorporating practical ways to reduce waste, such as with:

  • food and shopping (become a better cook, reduce costs from packaging, and spend less eating out);
  • beauty and cleaning (DIY organic beauty and cleaning products to avoid toxins);
  • and recycling and composting (the basics and why it isn’t as daunting (or smelly!) as it seems).

Vandyke says quitting her corporate job helped her find her path, and that her financial savviness during her “funemployment” is what led to a zero waste lifestyle. “I don’t have all the answers to living a 100% zero waste life,” she says. “It’s a goal, nothing more. I believe we can all be everyday activists and take little steps to reduce our waste.”

About Anita Vandyke

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Anita Vandyke is a qualified rocket scientist (graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering – Aeronautical Space) and runs a successful Instagram account (@rocket_science) about zero waste living.

She was born in Guangzhou China, raised in Australia and currently splits her time between studying Medicine in Sydney, and living with her husband in San Francisco. She regularly blogs about her passions of zero waste switches, minimalism, travel and all things green living.

​ Anita’s first book A Zero Waste Life: a thirty day guide published by Penguin Random House, Australia is available at all good book stores. Her second book is coming out in 2020.

Zero Waste Life Giveaway

3 winners will win a Mermaid Straw and a copy of the eBook, US Only.

The giveaway will be open until April 30th at 12:00 a.m. Eastern.

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