Bringing Up Bébé

One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting

By: Pamela Druckerman

Narrated by: Abby Craden

Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

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

It’s wonderful and relatable!!

I enjoyed every moment of it. Its always relieving to hear and know that all parents go through similar questions and situations when it comes to parenting.

Honest parenting book

best parenting book, reads like a story not a text book. Purchase a paper copy of bebe day by day as a reference

Great read!

I learned a lot through this book, as a new mom and teacher- I really appreciated the content of this book!

Great content, narration not so much

I quite enjoyed the book and it shed light on so many underlying culture specificities of France that we as outsiders are not aware about. The book actually helps to better understand the French and their way of thinking.
The contents are great, but this French accent of the narrator is ridiculous. I never understood the purpose of it, and, if anything, it only made the listening experience worse, as if the narrator / author were making fun of the French.

Interesting perspective on parenting, French style

The author traces her life journey in France as an anglophone mother while providing a often hilarious take on differences between her parenting style Vs that of her French counterparts. The book is well researched and provides a in depth view into the “why’s” behind the “how’s” of French parenting. Towards the end, there is a mention of some contradictions in style without much of an attempt at reconciliation with the earlier text. That however does not take away from the books character and it still makes for an interesting and educational read about French style of parenting.

Common Sense Parenting

The French way of parenting seems a bit less driven by overthinking and constant stimulation, and a bit more common sense. This book is helpful, but the narration made me not excited to listen to it.

Loved it! But the attempted French accents were rough

If the room wasn’t completely quiet it was sometimes hard to understand what the narrator was saying when she’d pretend to be French. Great story and great learning lessons!

Very interesting read

Really enjoyed listening and learning other perspectives of parenting. Giving examples of what she meant was helpful in understanding the concepts.

Interesting book

Very interesting concepts and the narrator is great. Definitely recommend listening for a first time parent.

Very interesting

Very interesting book. Questionable choices in narration. To my ears the reader has a passable French accent when speaking English in character as a French person ( I found this jarring at first, but eventually found it humorous), however her French accent in French is quite American.
I found the ideas on parenting and cultural comparisons very intriguing and am curious to see how my children implement the suggested practices.