Since I don’t spend my time reading articles about which books are the best parenting handbooks, I really don’t have a frame of reference for this. According to Star Magazine, Duchess Kate is a fan of The Modern Mother’s Handbook – you can see the Amazon description here. I glanced through some of the comments, which were mostly positive. Apparently, a lot of people liked that the handbook is incredibly short and you can read all of the “advice” in one 30-minute sitting (it’s only 44 pages long). Most of the negative reviewers basically said that most of the advice can be found in many online articles for free, or better yet, just ask your mom and she’ll tell you. Still, Kate allegedly found the book useful and she wrote a note to the author:

When it comes to etiquette and child rearing, Duchess Kate sets a pretty good example. What’s her secret? Kate recently sent the author of The Modern Mother’s Handbook a thank-you note, saying she was “touched” and “extremely grateful.” The book is written by an anonymous mother, and the guide not only addresses how to integrate old-fashioned values in today’s society, but also how to make sure your kid doesn’t turn out to be a royal pain!

[From Star Magazine, print edition]

I don’t understand how Kate sent a note to the author if the author is “Anonymous.” I mean, I guess Kate could have tracked down the publisher and told them that she wanted to send a note to the author and maybe the publisher gave out the author’s name. Maybe? It seems like a lot of work to put into dropping a note to someone who wrote the Cliff Notes on Dr. Spock.

Meanwhile, the Cambridges have added another event to their October schedule. Gotta get those numbers up before their November holiday! William and Kate will “attend an event hosted by the charity Mind” on behalf of World Mental Health Day, which is October 10th (two Saturdays from now). The Cambridges will “meet young people who have overcome their own mental health problems and now volunteer with the charity. They will also learn about the campaign to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental health, Time to Change, which raises awareness among teenagers.”

While William and Kate have paid lip service to charities involving mental health issues before now, it feels like someone (#PoorJason) is really trying to rebrand these two as the new faces of mental health advocacy. If they stick to it, good for them. But it feels like an issue they’ll forget about in a few months and then Poor Jason will have to find some new issue that they can temporarily embrace to make themselves look better.

Photos courtesy of WENN.