Julie Cook has written a valuable book to help parents make decisions that will affect their children for the rest of their lives. When Julie was pregnant with her first child, she found herself confronted with many decisions that, at first blush, seemed to be easy enough to make. Julie went to public schools herself and went on to college to obtain a couple masters degrees. She was also vaccinated as a child and had been exposed to plenty of television herself. But what Julie discovered is that her maternal intuition was peaking while she was pregnant, leading her to ask important questions and do her due diligence when researching for the answers.

The book starts out with Cord Blood Banking followed by a section on vaccines, then television and finally homeschooling. While Julie shares with her readers her journey of discovery that lead her to adopt unconventional ideas in raising her daughter, she is quick to mention that each parent must follow their own heart, intuition and gut instincts which may be different from hers. The book is a page turner, carefully avoiding too much college-level scientific information so that parents will get the gist of her research quickly while being encouraged to follow through with research of their own. At the end of the book is an excellent reference section of pertinent books and articles to help parents get started.

The concept that I personally found most valuable was the idea of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation in people. It is clear that through television and both private and public schools, we have created a society of primarily extrinsically motivated people. If our society is going to move in a positive, solution-oriented direction from what we have now, it will be due to the creativity of intrinsically motivated people - those who have the ability to think outside the box.

It was clear to me that the most difficult decision for the author to communicate was the decision to leave her daughter free from vaccines. While keeping each section short and to the point, she also wanted to effectively dispel the myth that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary. Since there is so much information on this particular topic, Julie put a lot of thought into getting parents the tools to think critically rather than simply give them a Vaccination 101 course in a few pages. She ends the vaccine section with the idea that she did not make a decision to not vaccinate but rather a decision to keep her daughter's immune system intact and her body uncontaminated with toxic chemicals, a positive decision.

At the close of Unvaccinated, Homeschooled and TV-Free, the author really delves into the psychology of making important parenting decisions and then dealing with parents who have found it easier to just go with the flow by doing what 95 percent of other parents are doing. I found this section to be the most valuable to me since she explains clearly why people will go along with what the majority of people are doing when the stakes are the highest, such as the decision to vaccinate a child even when faced with evidence of neurological damage and autoimmune disease as a probable outcome. Vaccination Liberation board members and chapter leaders have often communicated their frustration to me regarding their inability to reach friends and family members with factual evidence on the harm caused by vaccines and wonder what they can do to be more effective. This section helped me to see just why our efforts will only reach those who have a passion for research and aren't afraid to make logical decisions that put them at odds with the majority.

This book is highly recommended to give to all pregnant moms, especially those having their first child. Encouraging women to follow their gut instincts and intuition is so important for the health, vitality and mental well being of their children. And if their intuition leads them to make unconventional decisions, they will find much corroborating evidence and support through Julie Cook's new book, Unvaccinated, Homeschooled and TV-Free.

Unvaccinated, Homeschooled and TV-Free: It's Not just for Fanatics and Zealots, quality paperback, 135 pages. $20