October Book Spotlight

Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting
by Pamela Druckerman 

This book is written by an American journalist who found herself married to a British man and living in Paris when they started their family.  She noticed a number of differences between her children [and those of her friends and family back in the US, as well as other American ex-pats in Paris] and Parisian children, who seemed to sleep through the night much earlier, eat a lot more variety, sit quietly in restaurants instead of running around like maniacs, and the like.  She then set out to find out what the differences are in French parenting that create such differently-behaved kids.  The book won’t provide a miracle prescription on how to raise perfect kids, but it is an interesting exploration of the cultural differences in parenting and the results of those differences.

Kid book:

Cars and Trucks and Things that Go 
by Richard Scarry

This is an old classic that never goes out of style.  If you have a kid who loves vehicles, like I do, this is sure to be a hit.  Scarry’s books always have a ton of detail and fun things to look at on every page, and this is no exception.  There is a plot to the book, but much of the fun is just looking at all the different vehicles [pickle car, toothbrush car, etc], as well as looking for “Goldbug”, a little gold bug who is somewhere on each page.  Highly recommended by my 3-year-old reviewer. :)

About the Author

Katie Edwards lives in Needham with her wife and two children, ages 14 and 3.   She has a Master’s Degree in Library Science, but has been a stay at home mom for many years, so she is happy to have an outlet to share good books with others.  She loves to read [obviously], travel, try new restaurants, and gab with her friends.  Luckily she is in a book group where she can simultaneously eat and talk to friends about books.