Title: Bringing Up Bebe
Author: Pamela Druckerman
Narrator: Abby Craden
Genre: Nonfiction; Parenting; Memoir
Pages: 304 pages
Audio: 9.1 hours
Year: 2012
Publisher: Random House Audio
Source: Library
Book Rating: 4/5
Audio Rating: 4/5
Summary:
When American Pamela Druckerman and her English husband, Simon, set out to raise their daughter, Bean, in Paris, they stumble upon a phenomenon: French children are much better behaved than Bean. After investigating further, Druckerman discovers that French baby begin “doing their nights” (sleeping through the night) when they are just a few months old, eat what is served to them, and wait patiently while their mothers chat. So what makes these French babies so different? Druckerman attempts to solve this mystery.
My Thoughts:
Bringing Up Bebe is a bit more complicated than a simple this-is-how-to-raise-a-perfect-French-baby instruction manual. It turns out there is a lot that is a part of French society that would be difficult to imitate in the U.S. (free daycare? no snacking?). But it was still an eye-opening look at what we American moms (who largely favor attachment parenting) might be doing to prevent our children from behaving as we’d like.
Bringing Up Bebe is told via Druckerman’s own anecdotes as well as information she sought out from other sources. It’s entertaining and imformative. I kept peppering all of my conversations with little tidbits the entire time I was reading this.
I don’t think Bringing Up Bebe will have a huge impact on the way I parent, but it has made me consider a few new things. I’d recommend this one for any new parent. Thanks to Jen for putting this one on my radar.
Audiobook Thoughts:
my books. my life. 
I am SOOO curious a bout this one! So they eat just three square meals a day? I guess I need to read it. 🙂
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They eat at 8, 12, 4pm (kid snack time only), and 8. I can’t even do that. Lol.
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I agree that a lot of these changes would be hard to implement in American society, but the book does intrigue me. I wonder about these French kids. Are they really more advanced, or do they just quickly get used to being put on the back burner? Very interesting review today Michelle. This might be an interesting listen for me.
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Books like this would just depress me. I think I’ve probably screwed mine up for good, and it is too late to fix them.
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Yeah, I’m not sure this made a huge difference to how I parent either, but I did semi-implement ‘le pause’ and it was really fascinating.
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This sounds really fascinating. It would be great to read a book that doesn’t just rehash the same parenting advice.
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I had really strong opinions about this narrator, so I searched around to see what the internet had to say about the audiobook. I agree that the book is great. However, Abby Craden did *not* handle the French phrases well at all. Some of the French is mispronounced so as to change the whole meaning of the sentence (adjectives substituted for nouns;verb tenses). I found that she sacrificed textual clarity for a French accent. Perhaps this only bothersome for French-speakers, but somehow I suspect that Ms. Druckerman’s book attracts a substantial number of them.
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