I Just Want You to Know: Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family [Hardcover]

Kate Gosselin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 2010

The 9.8 million viewers of TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Eight recognize Kate Gosselin as the practical mom of eight who has come into their homes for over 100 episodes of her family's hit reality show. In I Just Want You to Know, Kate reveals a grateful and faith-filled mother who only wants the best for her children and is willing to sacrifice to make that happen. The book covers the three years her family lived in their Elizabethtown home, a period Kate considers one of the happiest of her life. In it she discusses the individuality of eight kids (all under the age of six) transitioning from the chaos of caring for infants to the structured days of a home filled with budding preschoolers, as well as her thoughts on communication, everyday miracles, and providing a safe home. During that time, Kate discusses her family's unique challenges from daily schedules to traveling, her need for control to learning how to be flexible, the individuality of all eight kids, how God provided every day, and her faith that held it all together.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The 9.8 million viewers of TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Eight recognize Kate Gosselin as the practical mom of eight who has come into their homes for over 100 episodes of her family's hit reality show. In I Just Want You to Know, Kate reveals a grateful and faith-filled mother who only wants the best for her children and is willing to sacrifice to make that happen. The book covers the three years her family lived in their Elizabethtown home, a period Kate considers one of the happiest of her life. In it she discusses the individuality of eight kids (all under the age of six) transitioning from the chaos of caring for infants to the structured days of a home filled with budding preschoolers, as well as her thoughts on communication, everyday miracles, and providing a safe home. During that time, Kate discusses her family's unique challenges from daily schedules to traveling, her need for control to learning how to be flexible, the individuality of all eight kids, how God provided every day, and her faith that held it all together. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Kate Gosselin has the joy, frustration, and honor of raising eight children---twins and sextuplets---in central Pennsylvania. The daily lives of her family were previously chronicled for five seasons on TLC's hit show 'Jon and Kate Plus 8.' Kate is a sought-after speaker, author of the NY Times bestselling books, Multiple Blessings and Eight Little Faces, and is currently in production on a new show for TLC.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (April 13, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310318963
• ISBN-13: 978-0310318965
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #600,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kate Gosselin has the joy, frustration, and honor of raising eight children--twins and sextuplets--in central Pennsylvania. The daily lives of her family were previously chronicled for five seasons on TLC's hit show "Jon and Kate Plus 8." Kate is a sought-after speaker, author of the NY Times bestselling books, Multiple Blessings and Eight Little Faces, and is currently in production on a new show for TLC.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

437 of 492 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Kate Gosselin, I Just Want YOU To Know......., April 18, 2010

By 

Phoenix (Tallahassee, Florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Just Want You to Know: Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family (Hardcover)

that I am sitting here in complete disbelief at what I am reading. I was looking forward to reading your new book titled "I Just Want You To Know: Letters To My Children on Faith, Love and Family", yet what I am reading is "How Hard Kate Gosselin Has Had It Raising 8 Children, Part 3".

This is another Kate Gosselin book about Kate Gosselin and how hard life is for Kate Gosselin.{{{ Yawn }}}

She clearly used her children to sell the book by including them in the title and tossing in 8 short letters, but the majority is the same old woe-is-me hullabulla that has run out of gas 1000 miles ago. If I were a Gosselin child and read this book when I was older, I'd probably feel confused as heck about the purpose of it. I so wanted to see a new side of Kate through this new book, but sadly it's the same old tired story of sacrifices she made as a mother...the same sacrifices most mothers make for their children that aren't unique to her only. Her children should be convinced of her love for them through her daily actions, not through words desperately scrawled on a couple pages in a book. Something is really beginning to smell wrong with this whole picture. Felt more like she is trying to convince herself and the public that she loves her children, more than convincing the children themselves.

I will give her credit for the touching discussion of her grandparents. That was about the only portion of the book that felt genuine and heartfelt. She didn't turn that memory around to be all about her or how hard it was for her to be their granddaughter. That portion of the book was sweet and enjoyable to read. It showed me she does have a soft spot in there somewhere that doesn't like to show itself very often.

384 of 439 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I just read the book. I don't get it., April 13, 2010

By 

M. Hill (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: I Just Want You to Know: Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family (Hardcover)

As the children struggle through the aftermath of their parent's public and painful divorce, this new book by Kate Gosselin, rather than insulating them, exposes their fears and vulnerabilities. This book is certainly different, but not in a good way. She must earn a living, but why not write a cookbook or a book of helpful hints for other mothers and permit her children to heal in privacy? Gosselin has spent so much time in the limelight showcasing her children, that normal boundaries most parents establish do not appear to exist in her universe.

Balance is sadly lacking and discretion is non-existent. Each child is dissected - identifying who is naughty, who is acting out the most, who is in the most pain from the divorce, who doesn't speak up for themselves, who is missing their father the most, etc. All is revealed in a dispassionate tone, largely devoid of a mother's usual pride in her children's accomplishments and gifts. Positives are noted in the context of how the behaviors help the mother. Which children are artistic or musical or athletic is nowhere to be found.

The book is composed of tedious background material which reads like self-absorbed filler and is interspersed with outspoken letters to each child, bible verses and photographs of the children. The letters contain material too sensitive and too personal for strangers to be rummaging about, picking through various revealing, hurtful or embarrassing pronouncements by their mother.

Contradicting the purpose of the book, throughout the pages, Gosselin's focus is on herself, not the children. Rather than preserving memories for her adorable brood, the book is about all she has done and all she has sacrificed for them. In the book she states that the children are her most precious belongings. I think those words may explain everything. Children are not belongings. Well, most children are not belongings.

263 of 300 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars much ado about nothing, April 18, 2010

By 

happyreader (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Just Want You to Know: Letters to My Kids on Love, Faith, and Family (Hardcover)

I scanned this book in a bookstore thinking it would be a sweet mother's day type of book. What a snore. I'm not sure how this got published as the prose is atrocious and the organization is chaotic. The most dissapointing aspect, however, was that the "letters" and other notes did not convey the love of a mother toward her child(ren), but rather a very self-centered and invasive missive. The author is superficially supportive toward her children, but seems to be more interested in complaining about how "difficult" her children have made her life. Oddly, nothing she complains about is anything any mother hasn't had to gladly sacrifice.

As a parent myself, I'm pretty sure my child would be embarrased and resentful of some of the things said.