It Takes A Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us [Paperback]

Hillary Rodham Clinton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0684825457 | ISBN-13: 978-0684825458 | Publication Date: September 25, 1996

For more than twenty-five years, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has made children her passion and her cause. Her experience with children has strengthened her conviction that how children develop and what they need to succeed is inextricably entwined with the society in which they live and how well it sustains and supports its families and individuals. In other words, it takes a village to raise a child.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The First Lady, a longtime child advocate, expresses her concerns for the children of today's world and offers her ideas for developing our society into one that values children's unique contributions. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Susan Larson New Orleans Times-Picayune A wake-up call...a comprehensive look at what our children need and want and deserve -- and aren't getting....We should all be reading it, learning from it, and acting on it. -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684825457
• ISBN-13: 978-0684825458
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #464,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

267 of 310 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Try reading the book, August 7, 2002

By 

Aaron D. Snyder "Aaron Snyder" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It Takes A Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us (Paperback)

My leanings are more right than left but I would take issue with anyone who actually read this book (not just decided to berate the title because you don't like the author) and didn't conclude that Hillary Clinton is every bit a proponent of "family values" as the most right-wing republican.

Mrs. Clinton gives the reader a compelling portrait of her vision for America's Children. To all the rocket scientists who'se reviews made the bold statement "It takes a Mother and Father to raise a Child" you are completely missing the point and obviously didn't read paragraph one of the book. In no way does Clinton devalue parental roles she simply acknowledges that at other people have effects on a child's well being. Children rely on safe neighborhoods, good teachers, readily available health-care and many other facets of "The Village" to be raised properly.

Within the book Ms. Clinton introduces a whole litany of social programs some of which I agree with (better health education and diets in school's to combat obesity, required marital counseling, ) and some of which I don't (socialist medicine and Charter Schools--the former will never fly in this country and the latter are proving to be a flop). Reasonable people can disagree, and while I don't see eye to eye with Clinton on some issues her objective is noble and her writing is enjoyable. FOr the record if Chelsea is any indication--Hillary Clinton is an excellent Mom.

There's little middle ground in this country when it comes to Hillary---I've heard the most vile and disgusting things uttered about her and I've seen her almost worshipped. I like to think I can be part of that middle ground--a right-winger who appreciates the intelligent passionate argument that she brings to the table.

41 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, concise, well-written, NOT a socialist manifesto, May 30, 2006

By 

Sara Wesley (Savannah, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It Takes a Village (Hardcover)

For those of you who lambasted this book for being a Socialist manifesto, may I recommend you actually read it (as opposed to lie about reading it and going on to write a review based solely on your political and religious convictions)?

I was very impressed with how good of a book this is, and I disagree that Hilary had a one-track political agenda in mind when she wrote it. It is obvious from her language and insights that she deeply cares about the welfare of children in America and worldwide, and far from picking a topic that she knew would galvanize public support (say, immigration, health care, social security, etc etc), she makes the bold statement that the best judge of each culture is the welfare of its children. Sadly, that kind of agenda is not going to win her any votes. The irony of that fact of life is exactly her point.

She repeatedly says that she does not think it is up to the state to care for children, but rather, it is up to all of us to see that we, as a culture, ensure that our children are well-cared for. She refers to her own upbringing and the community she grew up in, and says that while she doesn't think it makes sense to try to bring back the '50s, as life in the modern world is radically different, we can try to instill some of the benefits of the community way of life of that era into our modern day hustle and bustle. Her point is that orphans and children of abusive parents left by the wayside often develop into criminals and abusive adults that our own children have to deal with. That is NOT a political diatribe, but an observation anyone with common sense agrees with.

Those of you who purport to be all about 'family values' need to stop jumping up and down and yelling about your family values and give some thought to what 'family values' actually means. It does not mean that everyone needs to believe what you do to raise a family right. It means that you need to value the family and its development for it to grow and coexist healthily.

Read and think, before you attempt to review. Don't lie and use the Amazon book review as your political soapbox. It's deceitful and just plain pathetic.

125 of 166 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually Reading This Book Makes For Sensible Reviews, November 10, 2000

By 

Bobby Jones (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It Takes A Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us (Paperback)

First, of the reviews I've read, far too many of the negative ones were from those who obviously didn't read the book. Those who severely damned it, most likely wouldn't have given Mrs. Clinton the pleasure of their having bought her book. Also, these reviews offer nothing more than a mere, simple-minded critique of the book's title.

While I can certainly agree with the opinion that Mrs. Clinton's book does include, to some extent, mild political propaganda regarding social programs, we must keep in mind that the work is a collection of Hillary Rodham Clinton's personal views. It's absolutely pointless for anyone to share his/her views in a book without supporting those opinions--thus creating propaganda. It's a no-brainer that the author would back up his/her views only with the facts that best support the opinions while shying away from those that do not.

As far as the title of the book is concerned, it certainly DOES take a village to raise a child, and as Mrs. Clinton points out, the village WILL raise the child, with or without the parents. Those parents who carefully guide their children in what they see as the best direction have much better control over the extent the village raises their children. Therefore, those who fail to take an active role in their childrens' lives are essentially leaving the job to the community, which definately has more than its fair share of negative influences and role models that tend to serve as predators waiting for the misguided or the unguided. The two choices we as parents have are either to guide our children around the negative influences and toward the positive ones, or to allow our children to wander without us through a labyrinth of the above-mentioned "predators" which include violence, recreational sex, substance abuse, reckless conduct, and other immoralities. This is only the beginning! The cycle continues and feeds on itself to populate the "village" with even more of the negative influences, thus making it even more difficult for the best of parents to guide their children in the right direction.

If it were possible for only the mothers and fathers to raise the children, the world would be almost perfect as even the most uninvolved parents have the best intentions. Unfortunately, far too many leave the job strictly to the village. Our children are raised with or without us. The numbers of prisons, crisis centers, psychiatric units, and adult literacy programs are only a few products of only the village raising our children.