Achtung Baby: An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children - Hardcover

Zaske, Sara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1250160170 ISBN 13: 9781250160171

Publisher: Picador, 2018

Synopsis

An Entertaining, Enlightening Look at the Art of Raising Self-Reliant, Independent Children Based on One American Mom’s Experiences in Germany

An NPR "Staff Pick" and One of the NPR Book Concierge's"Best Books of the Year"

When Sara Zaske moved from Oregon to Berlin with her husband and toddler, she knew the transition would be challenging, especially when she became pregnant with her second child. She was surprised to discover that German parents give their children a great deal of freedom―much more than Americans. In Berlin, kids walk to school by themselves, ride the subway alone, cut food with sharp knives, and even play with fire. German parents did not share her fears, and their children were thriving. Was she doing the opposite of what she intended, which was to raise capable children? Why was parenting culture so different in the States?

Through her own family’s often funny experiences as well as interviews with other parents, teachers, and experts, Zaske shares the many unexpected parenting lessons she learned from living in Germany. Achtung Baby reveals that today's Germans know something that American parents don't (or have perhaps forgotten) about raising kids with “selbstandigkeit” (self-reliance), and provides practical examples American parents can use to give their own children the freedom they need to grow into responsible, independent adults.

About this title

About the Author

SARA ZASKE is an American writer who lived in Berlin for six and a half years. Her articles on her family's experiences in Germany have appeared on Time.com, in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bild am Sontag, Germany's largest Sunday paper. She lives in Idaho with her husband and two children.

Sara is the author of Achtung Baby:An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children.

Reviews

Channeling readers of Pamela Druckerman's Bringing Up Bébé and Alison Gopnik's The Gardener and the Carpenter, Zaske's work describes how the author moved from Oregon to Berlin after the birth of her son and, in the midst of the transition, found herself expecting her second child. In comic tones, Zaske shares the thrill and tumult of adjusting to a new culture, vastly different from her expectations. As opposed to the stereotype of strict, overbearing German parent, Zaske found "free-range" was the norm for childhood. In Germany today, children are encouraged to walk to school on their own and talk honestly about the Holocaust and other painful moments in the past. The priority is raising children who are self-reliant, independent, and responsible: a stark contrast, says Zaske, to the results some experts see from American children in the "helicopter" parenting era. From the birth process (in which midwives are the most common attendants) to early childhood (child care is considered a right, and "kita" schools provide playtime instead of the more rigorous American-style education) to elementary school (where topics such as sex, death, and nudity are a part of everyday conversations and outdoor time is enforced daily), Zaske compares American and German parenting culture and gives the U.S. reader inspiration to explore new methods. VERDICT A compelling cultural study that will interest all those who wish to learn about German culture, as well as American parents and educators.—Julia M. Reffner, Richmond, VA

Edition details

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1250160170
• ISBN 13: 9781250160171
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256