Black Mothers: Songs of Praise and Celebration
by Kristin Clark Taylor
Doubleday, 224 pages

Kristin Clark Taylor, whose memoir of her years as Director of White House Media Relations gained a cult following, has turned her talents to black moms. Here, she has collected hundreds of photographs and readings that pay homage to mothers who teach, discipline, and comfort. Quoting Aristotle and Whitney Houston, the Bible and Queen Latifa, Taylor praises moms for being their kids' best friends, for keeping family histories alive, and for passing on religious faith. Moms, she says, are their families' spiritual anchors--and there is no more important gift mothers can give their children than a lively faith, for when we teach children that God loves them, "we teach them to love themselves and we gently nudge them toward the comforting realization that they will forever be protected by his watchful gaze."

Don't let the title fool you: this book isn't just for black mothers, but for white, green, and polka-dotted mothers, too.