Being a professional librarian means I’ve read my fair share of children’s books that are delightful, and plenty that aren’t.  And being a mama who has both breastfed and bottle-fed babies (being a foster mama means you have to be flexible with what you’d do with your biological child versus a child who’s someone else’s baby), I’m always on the lookout for books that portray baby-feeding in positive ways, especially books that are breastfeeding-positive without being negative about ways other babies might eat.  Here are five books I think you’ll enjoy adding to your to-read pile!

1. Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers: This charming books delighted my daughter the first time we read it and she was about two years old; she’s four now and it ages wonderfully, in addition to being super supportive of all types of parenting, including breastfeeding, which it mentions by name.
2. A Ride on Mother’s Back: A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World by Emery Bernhard: While we may call it “babywearing” these days, it’s been around for a while, as has breastfeeding.  😉 This book isn’t focused on nursing, but it’s shown as a regular daily thing that mamas and babies do together, and heck, throwing in some babywearing is a nice bonus.
3. Katie Morag and the Tiresome Ted by Mairi Hedderwick: Since I’m a librarian, I feel like it’s my professional duty to include a common BANNED book in this blog post.  Katie Morag and the Tiresome Ted features an illustration of Katie’s mom breastfeeding her new baby brother, and because it dares to depict a mother feeding her child, it’s been banned before.  Naturally, I hope you’ll feel all the more determined to find it.
4. If My Mom Were A Platypus: Mammal Babies and Their Mothers by Dia Michels. Sometimes kids want books that explain how their mothers and other mammals feed their babies in more specific ways than a passive picture book for younger readers might depict.  This book fills that need beautifully. Bonus points for not being ancient, and for platypi!
5. Mama’s Milk by Michael Elsohn Ross: Okay, okay, look: I’m a librarian but I’m not that much of a cat person (my spouse is allergic) buuuut this book all about a mama cat nursing her kittens IS pretty cute…even if you’re not a cat person.