Mothers Know Best: It’s Nice to Share : Local reference guide for parents evolved naturally from ‘pack-rat’ tendencies of Newport Beach lawyer and mom of two.

Gerianne Craft Frazier, a Newport Beach corporate lawyer and mother of two young sons, describes herself as “an absolute fiend for being organized.”

So it wasn’t out of character that after her first son was born four years ago, Frazier began clipping newspaper and magazine articles about child-rearing issues and filing them along with handouts from parenting classes. She eventually wound up with two cabinet drawers bulging with files, which she consults whenever she has to “tackle” a particular issue.

“I’m known as a pack rat for information and a resource for friends,” said Frazier, whose friends would frequently call wanting information on everything from the pros and cons of breast-feeding to kindergarten readiness.

It was when she began getting calls from friends of friends that Frazier knew she had the makings of a book.

“I realized in talking to other parents that there really was no resource manual that was sort of an all-encompassing guide to parenting and the resources that are available in our community,” said Frazier, who enlisted her sister, Catherine Craft Dancer of Malibu, and spent two years compiling information.

The result is “Living With Kids in Los Angeles and Orange County: A Comprehensive Family Resource Guide from Conception to College Planning” (The Denali Press; $18), co-written by Frazier and Dancer.

Dancer, who was pregnant with her first child when she started compiling information for the Los Angeles section of the book, said she was amazed at the number of resources available.

“For so many women, parenting is such a huge adjustment that if there is anything that can make it easier, (the book) is just invaluable,” she said.

“Living with Kids in Los Angeles and Orange County” covers a wide range of parenting topics.

The section on Planning Your Pregnancy and Childbirth, for example, includes such information as how to choose an obstetrician, hospitals and birthing centers, fitness during pregnancy, where to buy maternity clothes and baby furniture, maternity rights and medical resources. There’s even a list of 40 nanny agencies and a brief description of their services.

The section on A New Parent’s First Year covers everything from weight loss and nutrition programs to postpartum depression to grocery stores that offer home delivery.

And there are listings for recreational and enrichment programs for children.

“It covers everything we could possibly think of,” said Frazier, whose oldest son, Nicholas, receives medical attention for asthma: thus a section devoted to children with special needs.

In addition to listing available services, the book includes brief essays by professionals on such topics as dental care in the ‘90s, college costs and financial strategies and how to supplement state disability with private insurance.

Although Frazier is “thrilled” that the resource guide is finally out, she said she’s so busy with her family and law practice that she’s been unable to give much attention to promoting the book.

She said neither she nor her sister view the book “as a way to make money--this kind of book just won’t do that. What I’m really after is to get the word out to parents, to provide information.

“I think we have such busy lives that oftentimes--for parents, if information isn’t readily at our fingertips--we’re not going to seek it out. This, I hope, will help to serve as a means of simplifying the lives of parents and also educate them to the available services and opportunities in Orange County and Los Angeles.”

Frazier said their publisher would like them to update the book every year. Indeed, between the time they finished the first draft and the book went to press, they were making changes. Due to the economy, she said, “there were unfortunately some businesses that we had to delete because they went out of business--many that had been established for many years.”

Frazier said there was one unexpected publishing hitch.

The first 2,000 books were printed before she and her sister could review the book cover. As a result, the cover bears only Dancer’s name as author with a title page notation: “With Assistance from Gerianne Craft Frazier.”

“Needless to say, I was a little irritated,” said co-author Frazier, explaining that the omission may have occurred because it was her sister who dealt solely with the publisher.

But, she said, “although I was disappointed, it’s not my primary career. My primary career is being a mother, second is being a lawyer and third is my interest in books and that sort of thing. Hopefully, the next bunch will come out and I’ll get some recognition.”