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

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have been curious about this book for a while, so since I’ve been reading parenting philosophy books lately, I thought this was the perfect time to read this one.
This book is parts memoir and French history with a bit of practicum added to it. Overall, it was quite interesting, however, there were parts of it (especially the first two chapters) that I found myself constantly rolling my eyes. I can definitely see where some readers would come to the conclusion that she is berating American mothers while putting French mothers on a pedestal.
But I do think there were also some good takeaways from the book as well. I really liked taking on the perspective of educating your child on social norms instead of trying to make them behave. Of course, encouraging individual play and allowing them to discover the world instead of obsessing about milestones was something I want to incorporate into my own parenting as well. I also enjoyed the recipes and play ideas, as well as some of the discipline perspectives.
It’s not a bad book that berates Americans. I read it as a woman’s journey having and raising kids in a foreign country, and how that affected her parenting and her children. Reading it as more of a memoir than a parenting book helps adjust to a more curious perspective. Good, interesting read!