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summerdreams56's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I liked the information that was given. My main issue was it started to feel repetitive in the story telling and I just wanted to jump ahead to the actual tips and informative information.
destinyvanburen's review against another edition
4.0
Although I found some of the themes to be repetitive; I also found the information to be immensely useful and interesting.
Not only to learn the ways western cultures have derailed their ideas of modern day parenting with outrageous amounts of control and helicopter approaches; with little to no evidence that this is beneficial to anyone- parent, child or community.. but to have it directly contrasted first hand by multiple hunter-gather communities and how they have parented for thousands of years. With overwhelming evidence of the benefits for child development, parental involvement and community engagement.
This book not only depicts the impacts the parent has on child, but child on parent. Again drawing on emotional intelligence and regulation.
It even touches on the stress mothers feel to preform duties above and beyond what they were ever capable of implementing in the first place. Truly emphasizing the empowerment of “it takes a village” - giving hope to the rise of true community again through conscious efforts to improve western society’s parenting practices.
Not only to learn the ways western cultures have derailed their ideas of modern day parenting with outrageous amounts of control and helicopter approaches; with little to no evidence that this is beneficial to anyone- parent, child or community.. but to have it directly contrasted first hand by multiple hunter-gather communities and how they have parented for thousands of years. With overwhelming evidence of the benefits for child development, parental involvement and community engagement.
This book not only depicts the impacts the parent has on child, but child on parent. Again drawing on emotional intelligence and regulation.
It even touches on the stress mothers feel to preform duties above and beyond what they were ever capable of implementing in the first place. Truly emphasizing the empowerment of “it takes a village” - giving hope to the rise of true community again through conscious efforts to improve western society’s parenting practices.
dern7663's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Wow what an insightful book! I have started using these ideas with my son over the last three weeks and I am seeing improvements in not needing to be so angry with him for not listening. Amazing what letting him help is also doing. I also love the way this book was written with stories from different cultures.
rubyeml's review against another edition
4.0
I would recommend this book to just about any parent. The advice in it is excellent (if not somewhat repetitive), it has relatable anecdotes, no strict “do this or die” advice and leaves room to try things out, do things imperfectly and most importantly, trust our children. I don’t often read books again but will definitley be flicking through this annually.
I’m glad the author is giving 35% of profits to the communities she observed to write this book. The observations and takeaways are highly valuable. I agree with a few of the other reviews that it’s a white lady teaching brown culture, however she has done it incredibly well, very thoroughly and with respect.
I’m glad the author is giving 35% of profits to the communities she observed to write this book. The observations and takeaways are highly valuable. I agree with a few of the other reviews that it’s a white lady teaching brown culture, however she has done it incredibly well, very thoroughly and with respect.
shermreads's review against another edition
3.0
I’m just a huge sucker for pop anthropology, but I think this could’ve benefitted from more academic curbing. I’m a little hesitant about a few approaches the author made though:
(1) given the family as a site of study, she didn’t seem to touch much on gendered dynamics or broader society as a reflection of that.
(2) She used singular children from these communities and held them as representatives for an entire society’s view on parenting.
(3) there’s a weird developmentalist underpinning behind looking at contemporary “hunter-gatherer” groups (especially as opposed to “western parenting”) to figure out stripped down parenting.
(4) she kept using “western parenting” as a monolith when, in reality, the range of ideologies is suuuper diverse within that category.
But asides from the pickiness due to my training, this was a fun and super interesting read that tried to be as practical as possible, I even left with a bunch of mental notes of things to try with my 2 year old niece! Side note: I really appreciated how 35% of the proceeds of this book went to the families she worked with, take notes researchers!!
(1) given the family as a site of study, she didn’t seem to touch much on gendered dynamics or broader society as a reflection of that.
(2) She used singular children from these communities and held them as representatives for an entire society’s view on parenting.
(3) there’s a weird developmentalist underpinning behind looking at contemporary “hunter-gatherer” groups (especially as opposed to “western parenting”) to figure out stripped down parenting.
(4) she kept using “western parenting” as a monolith when, in reality, the range of ideologies is suuuper diverse within that category.
But asides from the pickiness due to my training, this was a fun and super interesting read that tried to be as practical as possible, I even left with a bunch of mental notes of things to try with my 2 year old niece! Side note: I really appreciated how 35% of the proceeds of this book went to the families she worked with, take notes researchers!!