Customer Reviews

Growing Up: A Classic American Childhood

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I LOVED THIS BOOK!!

The format made the book enjoyable and easy to read. The "checklist" feature was interesting!

I wish my parents had this book when I was growing up! At age 30, I learned much from reading it.Though I have no children at this time, there were so many great items/goals I feel I can use right now for myself...it's never too late!

I loved that while there were goals that encouraged maturity, there were also a good balance of goals that stressed just being a kid and having fun! (This is so important today! As a teacher, I have seen too many students under pressure. If we lose our ability to have fun, we're missing out on an important part of our lives!)

While one reader felt the book put too much pressure on teenagers, I feel that it only serves to expand their horizons in life. It opens up many possibilities for children. Not EVERY goal has to be accomplished, but the book is a great starting point for raising well-rounded, socially -conscious children.

I know that I will be using it to some degree as a reference when I become a parent!!

I hope there's a sequel!

This book is outstanding and truly a "Classic!" I guess you shouldn't be surprised by the excellence of the information and advice in this book, because it's written by the smartest person in the world!

If your children or grandchildren experience just a few of the many activities listed, your life and theirs will be greatly enhanced! It certainly won't overwhelm them and put even more demands on them. Just take it a step at a time. You don't have to complete every activity immediately. Also, this book is very valuable for children to learn about practical and necessary skills for day-to-day living. It will allow them to become much more independent and grateful!

The beauty of this book is that it's designed for all kids and families, not just traditional families. And most of the skills and activities require little or no money.

My wife and I have two children (ages 10 and 8), and all of us are still enjoying the book after nine months of owning it. In fact, it's a book that you should reference consistently for a lifetime, it's that good!

Corey Dean Schmidt

PS: I agree with the previous reviewer on one thing: I love Marilyn too!

I would highly recommend this book to readers of all ages. One can only hope that our future presidents have parents that closely followed the suggestions in this book.

Marilyn clearly spells out that these are suggestions for an "ideal" childhood. As she states they may not all be possible, but shouldn't we shoot for the ideal. As for one reader's complaint that these ideas are expensive to implement, nothing could be further from the truth. Most require little or no money.

If you are a parent please buy this book!

The book contains a readable set of checklists of things to do in order to have a fulfilling, American maturation. Marilyn vos Savant was the child of immigrants and her parents spoke English at home, wanting her and her siblings to grow up American. Marilyn vos Savant is famous for her high IQ, at first, and for her well-circulated, intelligent column "Ask Marilyn", today. For her column, she reads hundreds of letters weekly from all sorts of American and international readers, which, as she has mentioned, has given her a unique perspective into American life and thinking. She is also the mother of two successful children--her only two children.

I'm no child or teenager, which is why I described the checklists as pertaining to maturation and not childhood or adolescence. As I read the comprehensive checklists, I was prompted (to try) to do those things I hadn't yet done and delighted to see those things I had done with my memories of doing them. Some things can probably not be done seriously by adults (like running a lemonade stand), the regret of this can be offset by the reader's ensuring he or she offers his or her own children those experiences.

Many of the checklist items I had never thought of. After reading through the checklists sequentially like I would read any book, I got ideas of my own, as I began to understand Marilyn's philosophy of maturation underlying her book. This book is philosophical foremost; whatever item can be adapted to the reader's own situation. It's not a difficult read, it's not expensive, and it will likely enrich the life of any child--in the hand of a parent, that is--or of any adult, parent or not.

I love anything written by Marilyn vos Savant. This book gave me an incite into her background that is very informative and enjoyable. So far I have read all of her books and just about every column she writes in Parade magazine. In fact a few years ago my logic question was published in her column.

I should have known that I might not like a book by someone who also wrote "Brain Building in Just 12 Weeks." Or whose publicity always mentions the fact that she's in the Guinness Book of World Records for her high IQ. I ordered "Growing Up" only remembering that Marilyn Vos Savant is widely known columnist.

I found most of the entries in Growing Up contrived and self-consciously precious. Picking a page at random, I find, "Have learned how to whistle a tune and, if you succeeded, delight passersby by whistling as you walk along the sidewalk." Any kid who goes to all the trouble of learning how to whistle and then memorizes a whole song with the intent of delighting passersby as he or she walks along the sidewalk is not a kid I want to know.

Another entry on the page reads, "Have tried playing a harmonica, if only to achieve a sense of humility." It would have been okay if she'd stopped at the word "harmonica." But play a harmonica knowing you'll be rotten at it just to give yourself a sense of humility? That strains credibility.

In my opinion, "Growing Up" suffers from terminal cuteness.

I love Marilyn but I have issues with this book. I think it puts too many demands on teenagers, in addition to the multitude of demands that they already feel. I think the book gives one the feeling that one is somewhat less than perfect if all of these things (one is supposed to have accomplished by the age of 18) are not completed. Also, many of the things require substantial funds to do!