In the News
People are talking about Achtung Baby!
Here’s a sample of some of the recent press:
TV / ONLINE VIDEO:
Sara Zaske raised her children in Germany for six years, and wrote about it in her book “Achtung Baby: An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children.” On TODAY she suggests that kids not be driven anywhere that they can get to on their own, and that they solve their own fights.
Sara Zaske, author of “Achtung Baby: An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children,” joins Salon’s Alli Joseph to break down her process of fostering independence in youth and decreasing “mom guilt.”
After spending more than six years in Germany raising her child, Sara Zaske reflects on the experiences of parental culture-shock and German philosophies of teaching kids self-reliance in her book Achtung Baby. Sara talks about her book and shows us a few things we can learn from German parents.
Print/Online
USA Today
America may be the land of the free, home of the brave, but it’s Germany whose children display independence and whose parents have the courage to take a step back, Sara Zaske writes in Achtung Baby: An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children
Slate
In a memorable scene of Sara Zaske’s guide to German-style parenting, Achtung Baby: An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children, Zaske sends her 4-year-old daughter Sophia to her Berlin preschool with a bathing suit in her bag. It turns out, however, that the suit is unnecessary: All the tykes at Sophia’s Kita frolic in the water-play area naked. Later that year, Sophia and the rest of her Kita class take part in a gleefully parent-free sleepover. A sleepover! At school! For a 4-year-old! These two snapshots of life as a modern German child—uninhibited nudity; jaw-dropping independence—neatly encapsulate precisely why Zaske’s book is in equal turns exhilarating and devastating to an American parent.
Library Journal
“A compelling cultural study that will interest all those who wish to learn about German culture, as well as American parents and educators.”
Chicago Tribune
When Sara Zaske’s 7-year-old daughter came home from school asking for matches, Zaske’s response was just what you would expect from an American parent: “Why?”
Macleans
Class sleepovers, transit trips without an adult, early lessons with fire. Sara Zaske’s ‘Achtung Baby’ explores the German approach to parenting.
Daily Globe and Mail
Daily Mail (UK)
The Herald, Scotland
YOU’RE walking down the street and see a young child – five years old, six maybe; they are cycling along the road on their own. What do you do? Is the child lost? Should you call the police?
The Independent (Ireland)
Imagine a place where children walk to school by themselves, ride the subway alone, and even cut food with sharp knives. Author Sara Zaske raised her children in Berlin for six years and was impressed by their very different parenting approach
Post (Ireland)
Forget helicopter parenting. Move over, tiger mums. A new book claims that the German approach to bringing up children is the way to go now. Style’s half-German writer agrees.
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NBC News.com
The German practice of giving children more independence early on creates more resilient and responsible grownups, says this American mom.
Business Insider–excerpt
Tree Hugger
German reviews (sample):
Radio Interviews (sample):
KBYU: Matt Townsend Show: Self-Reliant Children (starts at 1:08)
Early Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews
Publisher’s Weekly
Achtung Baby is making some noise! Check back for more news and
reviews.
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