Baby Not on Board: A Celebration of Life Without Kids

That is the question. For some, the answer is "Yes! Yes! Who wouldn't want to have a baby!" For others the answer is clear - "NO BREEDING. NO BABIES." Whichever one is your choice (and it is a choice), you'll find this book a fun read. The authors approach the sometimes taboo topic of deciding not to have children with humor and concrete considerations one should think about if pondering the addition of tiny footsteps to their life. Do you want to give up all your Saturday mornings from now until forever? Have kids and it will be cereal and cartoons at 7 am instead of sleeping until 10 and having a leisurely read of the paper while sipping a latte. The book pokes fun at parenthood and highlights the not so endearing qualities that babies, toddlers, kids and teenagers possess. It is not a book that says being a parent is a bad thing. Those who decide to remain childless are not cold or without compassion. Not all of them hate children, a lot of them LOVE kids, but know that being a parent is not for them. The book also highlights the great opportunity of being an auntie or uncle, compared to a mommy or daddy. It's a funny book, a quick read, and can be enjoyed by breeders and non-breeders alike. (But I wouldn't recommend giving it as a gift at a baby shower.)

This was a great read. The quick replies section for those never ending "Why don't you have kids" questions are perfect. It reinforces all the reasons we have decided to be childfree. Makes a great gift too.

For someone who's on the fence about having kids, this book is terrific! It's not mean-spirited at all; instead it makes you feel better about questioning whether child rearing is right for you. And in this celebrity-obsessed culture, I could care less if Gwyneth or Britney are breeding...But with all the print they seem to get about their spawn it sure puts unconscious pressure on us gals to get a bun in the oven. Anyway, this book made me feel better about my uncertainty, and cracked me up in the process! Thank you, Jennifer L. Shawne!

As one of the "selfish" and "barren" adults for whom "Baby Not On Board" (BNOB) is intended, I found Shawne's book the perfect antidote to the daunting cultural imperatives my wife and I have felt to BREED BREED BREED. Spiced with witty illustrations and dripping with interesting comparison tables, resources, and cheeky "advice," the book (finally!) says out loud what many of us have been thinking quietly for a long time: that on this already-overpopulated planet, those of us who have chosen to live our lives for *ourselves and not our offspring have every right to be loud and proud about it. Philosophy aside, BNOB is a brutally funny, dead-on counterpunch to the world of having babies, balancing honesty with cheeky humor, and toeing a careful line between saying what's necessary and provoking the poor breeders. I loved its candid assessments like "carrying a back-breaking watermelon" or long list of celebrities who elected to forego having children. Comparisons like "A Saturday With/Without Kids" clearly contextualizes the difference between two life-changing decisions in a simple, understandable way. There are dozens of examples like this, most of them hilarious -- "Lost in Translation," which explains how to swear in the presence of innocent little ears, made me laugh so hard I blew expensive champagne out my nose. Child-burdened folks may find themselves offended or defensive, occasionally, since Shawne pokes prose pins in many of their rationalizations. But they have to understand: we've been silent for a long time, putting up with their offsprings' interruptions of our movies and plane flights, even getting their parents out of work now and then. (What's OUR excuse? Our cat is sick?) Frankly, we were tired of the inequity. (Actually, parents probably won't have time to read the book -- not for another 18 years, at least.) For our bumper, we already have a STOP BREEDING sticker; for all our child-free friends, we're picking up a copy of BNOB.

Baby Not on Board is a witty, insightful, and thoroughly enjoyable read. It's high time someone wrote an antidote to all those planning-for-baby books in order to give the perspective of people who feel there's more to life than producing more lives. This book's the perfect gift for anyone who's decided to leave the task of overpopulating our planet to others. But it's lighthearted enough that even those poor parents out there should get a kick out of it. Baby Not on Board may be the most effective contraception on the market right now!