Title: For the Love Of Children
Author: Anna Wahlgren
Translation From Swedish by Bruce Junkin
ISBN-13: 978-91-977736-2-1
Hardcover: 726 pages
Publish Date: August 10, 2009
Suggested Retail: $39.95
About the Author:
Born in 1942, Anna Wahlgren is a Swedish writer, author, mother of nine and grandmother of fourteen. For the past 30 years she has been a parent educator and a child advocate and is an active and often controversial participant in the public debate on child rearing. She is one of the most trusted authorities on children in Scandinavia and is renowned for her sleeping cure; A Good Night s Sleep (GNS) – which has enabled thousands of sleep-deprived children (and parents) to sleep through the night.
Review:
When I first heard of For the Love Of Children, I was happy to hear that I was getting to review a book on parenting with having my three youngsters. Anna wrote this book for her own children in mind, as a way to share her advice on parenting.
For the Love Of Children is in five parts that are titled: 1. Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2. Infant Care. Thoughts Theories, and Practice, 3. Little People. A Practical Guide. 4. Little Becomes Big. 1-16 Years. 5. Upbringing. Each part is broken down further by age of child. Anna does reference some of her thoughts for a child sleeping through the night that is done in more detail with her other book, GNS: A Good Night’s Sleep.
Anna is a great story teller, having the ability to share a lot of detail. This book is written in a friendly style, like it would be if an older family friend or maybe an aunt was telling you what they had learned over the years from being a mother, and how things were for them. There are certainly some things that would be great as a new parent to learn from this book and some things a “seasoned” parent may read and agree, wish they would have done things differently or had done the same. It is fun to learn a little history from the past, how the norm of parenting was, and how it has changed. For the Love Of Children is 726 pages long so not a light weekend read!
“Having children is earth shattering. Having children is an experience that suffuses and radically alters your world, now and forever. There is perhaps only one generalization that holds true for everyone: Whatever expectations you had about parenthood, the reality was different.” Anna Wahlgren, For the Love Of Children
I think Anna hits it on the nose with stating that having a child is life changing. We as parents set expectations that are to strive for, but certainly are not always met. No single parent has the correct answer for everything and I think we learn sometimes right alongside our children. I admire Anna for how she candidly reflects on her life and raising her children through their early years, sharing her struggles and successes of parenting in this book.
For the Love Of Children may be purchased through Amazon. 
Disclosure- I received a sample of the above product for review purposes. All opinions expressed are honest and of my own
