The Best Gifts

Joan Buchanan is a children’s writer and storyteller. She is the
author of Taking Care of My Cold!, What If I Were in Charge?, Nothing
Else But Yams for Supper!, and The Nana Rescue.

The Best Gifts focuses on the loving gift of breastfeeding. It follows
Sara’s life, first as a baby receiving her mother’s milk and finally
as a mother breastfeeding her own baby. Inclusiveness and openness to
breastfeeding are encouraged throughout, notably in the line “Sara’s
father ... sat on the bed next to Sara and her mother, cuddling as
Sara’s mother opened her nightgown and drew their daughter near.”
The author’s use of rhythmic repetition reflects the cyclical nature
of breastfeeding.

The text highlighting Sara’s fifth birthday, graduation, marriage,
and motherhood, may be seen by some as rather limited. The
illustrator’s interpretation of the wedding scene is decidedly
traditional and could narrow the book’s appeal.

Halina Below’s soft, warm illustrations complement the book’s tone,
although at times they appear too static. The artist uses watercolor,
watercolor pencil, prisma color pencil, and graphite pencil.
Recommended.