Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman

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My Rating: *****

This book was written by an American ( a New Yorker) who moves to France and sees the different aspects in raising children by the French and upper middle class Americans she so often sees in NY, including herself. A fellow blogger who is now pregnant mentioned this book and that is how I found out about it. Thank you Veronika over at Veronika's Blushing. I wish I would have read this when it came out, which was pretty much prior to Emma being born.

This book is not a how to. It is not telling you this is how you should raise your kids. It is just simply observation. If you choose to try any of these ideas out, then that is your own thing.

Did you know in France, the women there don't even bother picking up TONS of how-to baby books? Yea, this is something that Pamela realizes when she becomes pregnant while living there. She buys all the American books we all love so much and all the French women look at her like she is crazy. They don't need books to tell them what to do. It's all instinct. This is obvious, since I am sure in MOST countries this is the norm. 

I loved a few of the disciplining ideas she got from watching and speaking to her French neighbors. I hope I can try some of them out to see if they truly do work. Especially the one about eating. I was a picky eater as a child and I hope I can get Emma to try more things than I did as a kid. I also want to make sure she eats healthier. 

I think this is a great book to read if you are expecting or even if you have kids. I've seen reviews where readers were insulted saying not all American's raise their kids the way this woman says. She isn't saying ALL , she is saying most in the circle she was use to being in. You have to go in reading this with an open mind.