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Bringing Up Bébé

One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting

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Bringing Up Bébé

Written by: Pamela Druckerman
Narrated by: Abby Craden
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About this listen

The secret behind France's astonishingly well-behaved children is here.

When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesn't aspire to become a "French parent". French parenting isn't a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren't doing anything special.

Yet the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.

Motherhood itself is a whole different experience in France. There's no role model, as there is in America, for the harried new mom with no life of her own. French mothers assume that even good parents aren't at the constant service of their children and that there's no need to feel guilty about this. They have an easy, calm authority with their kids that Druckerman can only envy.

Of course, French parenting wouldn't be worth talking about if it produced robotic, joyless children. In fact, French kids are just as boisterous, curious, and creative as Americans. They're just far better behaved and more in command of themselves. While some American toddlers are getting Mandarin tutors and preliteracy training, French kids are - by design - toddling around and discovering the world at their own pace.

With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman, a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal, sets out to learn the secrets to raising a society of good little sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about some things and strikingly permissive about others. And she realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you don't just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very different view of what a child actually is.

While finding her own firm non, Druckerman discovers that children - including her own - are capable of feats she'd never imagined.

©2012 Pamela Druckerman (P)2012 Random House
Biographies & Memoirs Motherhood Relationships France
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What listeners say about Bringing Up Bébé

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Great book, okay audio

I wish they wouldn’t use fake French accents whenever they read a quote from a French person.

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2 people found this helpful

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love it

Loves this book. I binge listened to it in a couple of days and was sad when it ended.

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A must listen for expecting parents

Calming and clear voice. The information in this book is very useful if you are expecting a child. I like that it’s written through several years and the mom is learning different stages of parenthood. Highly recommend! :)

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J’adore this book!

I loved this book! I want to incorporate some of the ideas into my parenting strategy.
I love forward to listening to the second one!

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Exactly what I expected! I loved it!

I’ve got this book with the expectation of learning more about how kids are raised in France and how to implement the ideology. Pamela covered it all beautifully. From interviews with different professionals, mothers and specialists to sharing her own experiences and personal views, she covered the most important aspects of French up bringing.

Yes, the French pronunciation and impersonation of a French person speaking English sounded a bit “forced/unnatural” but I didn’t get this book to learn French and wouldn’t miss such valuable content just because of it. Once you get over that you’ll really gonna enjoy the book.

Totally recommend this book!

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could do without the horrible accents

great information and stories but wish the reader wouldn't have tried to do the different accents

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A new perspective

This book gives me broad perspectives about french parenting and culture. Though I don’t fully agree with the parenting way, most of it are making sense.

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Amazing!

I really enjoy the authors take on parenting and how no one way was presented as the “right” way. Every parent she mentioned was just a bit different and it focused on the comparison she had seen among others and herself. I’ll probably listen to this again.

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Enjoyable

I enjoy this book so much, gave my a different perspective about parenting. I dislike that this book doesn't come with the PDF support for some of the recipes, it would be amazing if they provide that information like other books in Audible do. Otherwise, was quite refreshing and entertaining.

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As an expecting mum

I love stories!! All the facts are told through stories and as an expecting mom this was SO interesting and so helpful and fun to read. Would recommend to anyone:) !

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