Bringing Up Bébé

Inspiring

I started listening to Bringing Up Bébé the very same day it came out. Having a “bébé” of my own who is rapidly morphing into a destructive whirl of Tasmanian Devil-style energy, I was immediately sucked in by the title of the opening chapter of Pamela Druckerman’s book: “French Children Don’t Throw Food.” Oh really… I’m listening.

I’m not sure that there’s any one big Holy Grail of child-rearing here but this book proved to be charming, funny, and VERY informative, and I’ve found it’s been helpful in guiding my thinking about what kinds of values I want to try to instill in my child. Some of these have been surprising. For instance, Druckerman writes that in American households we force “please” and “thank you” down our kids’ throats - convinced that if they can master these two critical mantras of etiquette then they will be society ready. In France they teach this too, but there are two other, even more critical, words: “hello” and “goodbye”. French children don’t slink into the room or run to the TV when their parents' friends are visiting. They look the adult in the eye and say “hello”. The reverse plays out when the visitor leaves. French parents feel that this confers respect – that doing this forces their children to acknowledge the humanity of another person. Listening to this while driving to work I found myself practically fist-pumping. “Yes! I want my daughter to acknowledge the humanity of other people too!” She goes on to point out that much of the hostility that American tourists experience from the French originates from the fact that we don’t say “bonjour” upon getting in a cab or entering a restaurant. Who knew?

Overall this was a truly enlightening listen, filled with lots of inspiring little tidbits like this. Druckerman is funny and relatable and Abby Craden as the narrator was perfection. I was actually surprised it wasn’t the author reading it because her delivery is so natural and she sounds so connected to the material.

86 people found this helpful

Great book. Awful accent!

As a French new mom living in the US I found this book really interesting. Although I do not agree with everything, I feel like Pamela's vision of French parenting is very accurate. I can see a lot of myself in her French moms descriptions but also a lot of my own parents.
Even though I really enjoyed the book for its content, I found the reader's performance to be really bad, and actually even annoying to listen to. All along the book the reader tries to fake a French accent and completely fails. Her accent sounds more Dutch or German to me and I wish she just spoke plain English.

12 people found this helpful

Great Read! Review From First Time Mom

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book made me laugh. My daughter is 11 months old and I read most of it while juggleing her from place to place. Well written and funny. I gave it to my sisters.

What did you like best about this story?

The writer is honest and also adds in a lot of facts about France- I learned a lot along my audio journey.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from Bringing Up Bebe?

To moms: trust yourself. You know more than both you and the oober mommy culture think you do.

Any additional comments?

This is the first book on parenting I've enjoyed reading... Come to think of it, it's the first book on parenting I've actually managed to finish. This book made me feel both hopeful and amused.

20 people found this helpful

Great book!

The premise of this book is an interesting one. I enjoyed the way that Druckerman gave her stats and kind of let the reader take from it what they wanted to. I read on a review on another site where someone said that she raves about parenting in France and bags on American parenting. I didn't find that to be true. It's a good book, I took away a lot of ideas. Abby Craden is a good narrator. I haven't had a lot of experience listening to non fiction, but I will now.

9 people found this helpful

Not A Fan of the Book

This book was more the author's personal life (her relationship and work) than actual class between her culture's parenting and parenting in France. She presents herself as a type of New York mom that I can't related to despite being from the US -- so the idea that it is US parenting vs French parenting falls flat.

Readers who do accents crack me up! My partner overheard this book and kept making fun of the reader's faux French accent. Made for lasting amusement whenever we discuss parenting...

I would recommend the "French Children Eat Everything" book. It is more focused on eating/feeding differences. And at least for me, I could relate more to the author of that book. [And I read it rather than listening.]

16 people found this helpful

Narrator's Frenglish Accent Was Distracting

Valuable takeaways from this book, but was distracted by how the narrator pronounced French words. Maybe this it was intentional to reinforce the American-speaking-French idea, but her accent was noticeably inauthentic.

7 people found this helpful

Loved this - and I don't even have children

Humerous and sometimes serious account of living in Paris and raising children there. I found it interesting to listen to the differences and want to apply some of the advice for myself (no snacking between meals, but for a planned one in the afternoon). Fun book!

7 people found this helpful

Excellent book, ridiculous narration

What did you love best about Bringing Up Bebe?

Parenting books are almost invariably insufferable as they offer some combination of patronizing, ineloquence, triviality, and sanctimony. This book was a clear exception: well-written, interesting and relevant. However, the narration was enervating: most French words, terms, names, and expressions were pronounced incorrectly, and all French speaking characters were performed with a fake French accent (in English). However, even with these shortcomings, I very much enjoyed listening to this book.

What didn’t you like about Abby Craden’s performance?

I resented the mispronunciation of most French words, names, and expressions (from bonjour to Paris Match, through Virginie and innumerable others). Does no one check these things for a narrator who clearly does not speak french? Also deeply disliked the fake French accent (in English) in which all French-speaking characters were read.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

The chapters on waiting, food, and discipline.

14 people found this helpful

Narrator makes me want to jam pencils in my ears

I had heard great things about this book, and have many friends who recommended it. Being a fan of audible and having little time to read with a new baby I picked up the audio version. What a colossal mistake. The narrator's repeated use of the worst fake French accented English is so awful that I honestly can't finish the book. If someone did a Chinese accent the way this woman does a French accent that person would be decried as a racist and banned from ever using language again. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your money on this audiobook. Unless you want to have your brain repeatedly stabbed with knives

13 people found this helpful

thumbs up

I liked it. This book gives a glimpse into the French way of parenting. It turns out there is a lot to admire and emulate. The author did a good job of high-lighting the things that drive me crazy about what a lot of Americans moms tend to do (I'm guilty!), but in a light way. I don't see this book's premise as a another reason to feel bad as parents, though. I look at it as food for thought. Speaking of food, I've been introducing more variety w/ my kids (based on the French way),...voila! it worked!

27 people found this helpful