Read Online Act Natural A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting Audible Audio Edition Jennifer Traig Emily Woo Zeller HarperAudio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 11 hours and 47 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher HarperAudio Audible.com Release Date January 8, 2019 Language English, English ASIN B07L16YF3H

Act Natural A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting Audible Audio Edition Jennifer Traig Emily Woo Zeller HarperAudio Books Reviews

• I'm a new parent -- mom to a 3 month old boy -- and I bought this book hoping it would provide some insight as I embark on my own parenting adventure. I'm glad I read it! And not just because, as a reviewer on the back cover notes, it makes me feel better about my "own lousy parenting techniques and decisions" (people have done some crazy things historically!!), but also because the book puts modern parenting into perspective. There are countless strong, often opposing, opinions out there about parenting in this day and age, but "Act Natural" shows that so much of what we understand about child-rearing is culturally specific and VERY recent.
  
  The book is chock-full of fascinating, often startling, history, and I found myself having to share much of what I read with my husband "This is crazy", "Can you believe . . . !?"
  
  I was a bit disappointed to learn about the bad reputations of some of my favorite children's authors — I'll never be able to enjoy Alice in Wonderland quite the same way — but it's a small price to pay.
  
  I have a feeling I'll be getting this as a baby gift for many friends in the future.
• I love this book! I only write reviews when something really makes an impact. This writer is witty and funny, the book just flows easily and is very meaty wasting no pages with fluff, and the history of parenting is just fascinating! I ended up sharing so many parts with my adult children and husband and they have shared in the laughs as well. This is not a book to convict you abut your lack of parenting but one that will likely assure you that your efforts could be much, much worse. It will open your eyes to the unbelievable mistakes made in the past and how they compare to our ideas of parenting now. It will reaffirm how much we do for our children in today's world and help you release guilt. It may make you wonder how what we think is right today may be looked upon 100 years ago. And, if you share some of this book, it may even help your children appreciate some things they have today! This will be a rare book which I actually keep. Great read!
• A surprisingly in-depth recounting of society's evolving attitudes and approaches to childhood development. The author describes all of this with an, often laugh out loud sense of humor. My reason for a four star versus five star review is that the historical approaches are described in great detail, but too little time is spent describing the nuances and shifts over the last 30 to 50 years; and while some of those shifts are described, I was hoping for more hypothesis or analysis as to what factors have resulted in today's most popular approaches to the tasks of successful parenting. That said, this is a highly readable, highly informative, and highly entertaining read.
• I don't know why someone hasn't tackled the brilliant idea of a cultural history of parenting before, but I'm glad the task fell to Jennifer Traig. This is a meticulously-researched and often hilarious account of parenting through the ages, much of which will go a long way to alleviating modern parenting guilt. I should note that I don't have any children myself, but I had parents and I was in fact a child once, so this book feels relevant in all sorts of ways. Traig is brutally honest about her own parental shortcomings, and puts the reader at ease through this journey. Highly recommend.
• Read and compare your parents, parenting style and children to the historical ways. It will make make you feel great that you did not live in the good old days. It's a very funny book as well as informative.
• Funny, informative, and reassuring, as I wonder if I am screwing up this whole parenting thing. Could have been edited better (a few too many notes and asides, some repetitive parts) but overall an absolutely engaging book.
• I loved this book. It was a fascinating trip through the history of child rearing with the perfect amount of humor sprinkled in – don’t miss a footnote! I’m going to encourage both my daughters and my daughter-in-law to read it because like most mothers today, I know they are being inundated with helpful tips from various “experts” both online and in their day to day interactions with other mothers.
• It's cute for the first couple of chapters, but her tongue in cheek tone gets stale and the content is repetitive and obvious.