SUBJECT: 4/5
RELEVANCE: 4/5
WRITING STYLE: 3/5
ILLUSTRATIONS: 3/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5
My Musings
It’s not an easy role being a parent in the current world. The needs, roles, functions, and priorities of today’s parents have changed. What has also changed is the time available, money at disposal and other such factors that impact a parent.
As the money at hand increases and disposable time decreases, more and more parents are outsourcing key roles and responsibilities.
But is it really good? What should be an ideal set-up? Where should one draw the line? How to handle ever more demanding kids? How to strike a balance between parenting and working?
From Monkeying to Parenting is a book that will be a helpful read for all parents looking for answers to the above-mentioned questions. Read on to know my thoughts on this book.
What is the book all about?
The book is basically a mini-guide for those parents who find it tough to balance work with children. It is also meant for those parents who are looking for some very specific answers to questions like how to make homework easy for kids? How to manage tantrums? How to address hyperactivity in kids? How to manage amongst kids?
In addition to this, From Monkeying to Parenting also talks about some very India-specific issues which have a huge impact on how we parent our kids and how we look at our kids.
Concepts like the Karmic equations, joint families, improving relations with every family member including mother-in-law will help a parent understand much more about the needs of their children and how the various factors like these impact their growth and development.
The author’s writing style
The author, Parminder Kaur Sharma, makes use of easy everyday language to communicate with her readers. What I particularly like about the author’s writing style is that she doesn’t rely on complex academic theories and behavioural concepts to drive home the points that she wants to emphasize on.
Instead, she talks from her own experiences as a mother which enables her to easily connect with her audience/readers. Learning about theories is alright but talking about what makes practical sense and what works in practical situations is the best part about this book.
Use of illustrations
From Monkeying to Parenting makes use of a good number of illustrations to supplement the text and to make it easier for the reader to understand the concepts.
Unfortunately, the quality of the images used for illustrating is not really good and personally, they failed to impress me. I would have loved it if the images used were of a more professional and quality.
The final verdict
Overall, From Monkeying to Parenting is a book that should be read by parents who are not really into reading. Written in an easy to understand language, complemented by a large number of illustrations with suggestions and learnings mainly keeping in mind the modern Indian society, this book will surely be a good read for Indian parents.
If, however, you are a voracious reader who has previously read many other books on parenting this book might be a little too basic for you.
Pick up the book if
- If you are a parent.
- If you seek answers to one or more of the questions listed in the My Musings section of this review.
- If you have never read a book on parenting before.
Skip the book if
- If you are not a parent.
- If you have previously read similar books on parenting.
- If you voraciously devour books that talk about parenting.
Can’t wait to read it? Buy your copy of From Monkeying to Parenting from the link below.
