Grandmotherly wisdom, with practical advice for parents concerned about the way their children are growing up.
From the author of Noah’s Garden (1993), which advocated conversion of suburban lawns into more natural and ecologically sound gardens, comes an expanded thesis: We must “wild the land” not just for the benefit of other creatures but for the sake of our own species.
Stein argues that there is a mismatch between the biology of development and the environment that enables it. The derangement of our human habitat “isolates and estranges us,” she says, and as parents our task is to discover how to foster our children’s social engagement with the natural environment. To develop her argument she follows a roughly developmental order, from birth to adolescence, using experiences with and observations of her grandchildren and other youngsters she has known, plus memories of her own childhood. Buttressing her personal experiences are her gleanings from readings in natural history, paleoanthropology, linguistics, and psychology. She stresses the importance of self-discovery for children and urges creation of a natural environment outdoors that is for them as engaging and social as the kitchen is indoors. For parents squeamish about introducing their children to spiders, snakes, or other less appealing denizens of the outdoor world, she suggests starting with a bed of flowers. There are even recipes for a rose-petal jelly and a wild leek soup to be made from ingredients gathered outside. Stein emphasizes the value of giving children hands-on experiences, of introducing them to adult tools and teaching them manual skills. Children, she says, do not want to be (and should not be kept) unable to produce, earn, or in some other way be useful to their families, and parents who keep their children useless do them a disservice.
Grandmotherly wisdom, with practical advice for parents concerned about the way their children are growing up.Pub Date: June 21, 2001
ISBN: 0-86547-584-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: North Point/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
Six discursive, stirring autobiographical essays wrestle with the social definitions foisted on the author as a black man and situate him within his own personal experiences and the collective history of his kin. Grief, hope, and contemplation fill these pages as Wideman (Philadelphia Fire, 1990, etc.) unburdens his heart on the subjects of manhood, racial prejudice, fatherhood, and family heritage. Deceptively short and readable, these are not simple essays. Each is structured around the same two-part process: identifying the ways in which the "paradigm of race" destroys African-American pride, love, communication, and history, creating distance between fathers and sons; then addressing the ways this distance ought to be overcome. "Because we don't talk or can't talk father to son, son to father, each generation approaches the task of becoming men as if no work has been accomplished before," writes Wideman. "Imagine how different we might be if we really listened to our fathers' stories." His own parents were divorced, and he describes his relationship with his father as by turns estranged, distant, painful, and loving. The best piece by far is the title essay, which incorporates his finest thoughts on subjects discussed in the other five and achieves a clarity they sometimes lack. In it, Wideman explains that as a boy wanting to be closer to his dad he always heard the church hymn phrase "farther along we'll know more about you" as "father along." Among the highlights is a description of a pilgrimage he and his father made to South Carolina to search for family roots. In his prose, Wideman displays an uncanny gift for conjuring up a potent single image: "My mother's open arms. My father's arms crossed on his chest." This book will frustrate readers, however, as Wideman fails to do more than allude to his own son, who killed a teenage camp mate. Earnest, artful, hopeful, angry, and proud, Wideman's lovely book contains the seeds of promise for a world where black children have a rich wellspring of history to draw from, and where there's "enough love for everybody."
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-40720-0
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1994
Matchmakers and matchees alike will find help in this good- humored, complete guide, which advises women to leave no stone unturned—and no phone call unreturned—in the determined quest for a mate. Freelance writer Brawarsky (who charges no fee for her matchmaking services) claims to have six successful couplings to her credit (and two more that look promising). For the ever-alert woman looking for men, happy hunting grounds are everywhere to be found: art galleries, flea markets, even the checkout line at the supermarket (if nothing else, you will at least have found out the name and use of those unidentified leafy green things in his cart). And everyone can be enlisted as a spy on your behalf: Realtors know the single men who have just moved to town; interior designers are privy to information about their male clients; and your doorman can tell you about ``the guy who just moved into 11G.'' So why are you still sitting there like a slug? Get out and meet someone, already.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 1994
ISBN: 0-671-86496-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1994
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
