Customer Reviews

Raisin' Brains: Surviving My Smart Family

5 star:		(8)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Thanks to Karen Isaacson, we won't need standardized tests to see if children, or their entire families, belong in a gifted program. All we have to do is have them read this book, and wait. If, within minutes, the parent is on the floor hysterically laughing, "I'm not the only one! I'm not the only one!".. her kid gets in the program. As I read this thoroughly enjoyable book I kept wondering how she managed to hide the surveillance equipment she must have installed in my house while MY kids were growing up. Her relaxed, delightful point of view is a gem in this over stressed,what-if-my-kid-isn't-president, panic stricken world of education and parenting. Run, don't walk, to buy this book. Even before you wipe the two pounds of peanut butter off the carpet the kids used in their anti-friction experiment.Especially before you find out which kid did it this time.

This book was not only hilarious, but gave me a greater appreciation for my own smart yet nutty family. The authors descriptive words puts you right into her world of gifted characters and lets you laugh right along with her.

I really enjoyed this book. Once you pick it up, you'll find it difficult to put down. This book is helpful and humorous at the same time. It raises the awareness of the dilemas that gifted children (and their parents) often face in school and at home, in an engaging way. Ms. Isaacson has the uncanny ability to make any parent reflect on the uniqueness of their own children. Reading this book gave me a greater appreciation for my own children. Parents and teachers alike, would benefit from reading this laugh-out-loud book.

... Because you're going to laugh out loud! Issacson offers a hilarious look at life in a gifted family, with five kids, each as different yet challanging as the one before. From cleaning the kitchen to playing with their food, these kids manage to find fun whatever they do.

My husband accused me of "having entirely too much fun" while reading this book. And he's right - it's great fun! But don't let the kids read it... they might get even more "good" ideas of tricks to play on you!

I found this book wonderfully informative and refreshingly written in a conversational format with lots of personal experience and humor thrown in. It was not what I was expecting, however. After reading the reviews, I was disappointed to not laugh out loud until several chapters into the book. Despite this, I enjoyed it enough that I did recommend it to several friends and bought copies to give to my siblings for Christmas. (Maybe now we will understand my brother blowing himself up with rocket fuel he had made with his chemistry set at age 13....)

The easy format doesn't require the concentration of some of the more sterile books on parenting a gifted child, but seemed to have almost as much information. There were many excerpts that made me smile but only a few parts where I laughed so hard that I thought I would cry. The best part of this book was that it helped me to understand my own family - both past and present - and realize that what we often take to be ADHD or ordinary weirdness, is just a normal symptom of having a differently wired brain, intense concentration and an amazing imagination.

Another feature of this book that I appreciated was its lack of glorifying giftedness. Instead of describing it as a trait to aspire to, it talks about it clearly as the strength and curse that it is for those that are born with it. It talks about the different needs of a gifted child in education and life with detail and many zany examples. It emphasizes throughout the differences in giftedness levels as well as giftedness in many different areas. She talked about her 5 children and their varying strengths and interests. She gave her five children and 4 siblings interesting names to protect their identities; names like Myron, Pandora, Stanley, Magnolia and Otto. As she teaches through conversation and silly examples, she "keeps it real", reminding us that all parents ask themselves often why they chose to have children, but always know the real reason deep inside.

The ability to laugh at oneself and enjoy our situation and gifted children is one that is often overlooked and a much needed trait for surviving this path of raising gifted children. This book is very refreshing and should be a definite addition to any gifted library. I highly recommend it for gifted parents, educators and older gifted children. For most of us, this will be the copy that is most worn and most lent out....

I think the person who wrote the negative review below (see Adderall)has no sense of humor. This book is hilarious. The family it describes is hilarious. These are bright,creative, interesting people. Not every family is like this, but this family is authentic. Those of us who work with gifted kids know families like this. We appreciate bright, creative kids who can think in unique ways. Creativity means thinking outside the box; and we're going to need lots of creative thinkers like the ones in this family to solve the world's problems.

Raisin' Brains: Surviving My Smart Family by Karen L. J. Isaacson is a lighthearted and engaging collection of anecdotal stories about a mother surrounded by unusually intelligent relatives and children. Karen's efforts to keep up with everything from a son who starts reading in infancy, to a grandmother who enjoys singing lullabies about worms, makes for whimsical, lighthearted reflections on family life in general, and the parenting of gifted children in particular. Raisin' Brains is delightful and highly recommended reading -- especially for anyone who has ever had the responsibility and experience of raising kids who were smarter than they were!

We LOVED this book! Raisin Brains is not only funny, its a joy to read. So many of us think we're "Ab - normal" when we have gifted children; even when we don't realize they technically fall into that category. This book helps families feel good about our 'creativity' and different ways of looking at as well as interpreting the world. Reading this book gave us laughs and a great relief to know our smart, 'creative thinkers' are not alone - and neither are we as parents.

What I have seen decribed in this book falls more under Obsesive Compulsive Disorder and ADHD. I would not be suprised if most of her siblings are on some sort of medication for depression or mood swings. In my opinion it is a good book for reseach into the lifes of people dealing with and raised by the emotionaly unstable. Where was the father?