Maggie Dent is an author and educator, as well as being a parenting and resilience specialist with a particular interest in the early years and adolescence. She is also the proud mother of four grown sons.
This is an amazing book, which provides a holistic vision of care, parenting, and teaching – from young children through to adulthood. There is much wisdom, insight, love, and compassion within these 350 pages. Maggie plays down the importance of academic/intellectual success, while highlighting the many other areas of importance for youth development/quality of life/community.
There is a lot of attention given to the changes between the post-WWII family setting in Australia, and the outcomes for young people in the 1990s/early 21st century. Maggie also contrasts her rural/farm upbringing with the densely populated urban environments (where most children grow up)… Some of this feels a bit sentimental and could be rose-coloured glasses. However, there is a strong narrative that’s accompanied by practical tools and suggestions.
The storytelling is very powerful, authentic, and moving. Maggie cares deeply for the health and wellbeing of children, which you can appreciate from her successful podcasts called Parental As Anything… The spelling and grammar in the version of the book that I read was atrocious. But I happily looked through that completely, feeling such affinity for the meaning/purpose/expression of the book.
While there is a little reference to quantitative evidence, Maggie’s empiricism is drawn largely from her rich personal experiences and her keen qualitative observations. And here she excels – with astute writing that captures emotional/social/spiritual issues beautifully…
There was certainly more in this book that I learnt about raising boys, than I did about raising girls (I have both a son and a daughter). This book is unlikely to be read by many Fathers or working parents. Who has time for 350 pages when you’re holding down a full-time job, paying off the mortgage, juggling the kids, and making any time for friends/family/hobbies/sport? It did take a couple of weeks to get into this book, after it had been sitting on my reading pile for a couple of months. I’m very happy to have read it, have huge gratitude to Maggie, and can see the benefit in a second reading down the track.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer—no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera, scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Reviews with images
Inspiring, holistic, and positive
Maggie Dent is an author and educator, as well as being a parenting and resilience specialist with a particular interest in the early years and adolescence. She is also the proud mother of four grown sons.This is an amazing book, which provides a holistic vision of care, parenting, and teaching – from young children through to adulthood. There is much wisdom, insight, love, and compassion within these 350 pages. Maggie plays down the importance of academic/intellectual success, while highlighting the many other areas of importance for youth development/quality of life/community.There is a lot of attention given to the changes between the post-WWII family setting in Australia, and the outcomes for young people in the 1990s/early 21st century. Maggie also contrasts her rural/farm upbringing with the densely populated urban environments (where most children grow up)… Some of this feels a bit sentimental and could be rose-coloured glasses. However, there is a strong narrative that’s accompanied by practical tools and suggestions.The storytelling is very powerful, authentic, and moving. Maggie cares deeply for the health and wellbeing of children, which you can appreciate from her successful podcasts called Parental As Anything… The spelling and grammar in the version of the book that I read was atrocious. But I happily looked through that completely, feeling such affinity for the meaning/purpose/expression of the book.While there is a little reference to quantitative evidence, Maggie’s empiricism is drawn largely from her rich personal experiences and her keen qualitative observations. And here she excels – with astute writing that captures emotional/social/spiritual issues beautifully…There was certainly more in this book that I learnt about raising boys, than I did about raising girls (I have both a son and a daughter). This book is unlikely to be read by many Fathers or working parents. Who has time for 350 pages when you’re holding down a full-time job, paying off the mortgage, juggling the kids, and making any time for friends/family/hobbies/sport? It did take a couple of weeks to get into this book, after it had been sitting on my reading pile for a couple of months. I’m very happy to have read it, have huge gratitude to Maggie, and can see the benefit in a second reading down the track.
Top review from Australia
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in Australia on 10 January 2023
Maggie Dent is an author and educator, as well as being a parenting and resilience specialist with a particular interest in the early years and adolescence. She is also the proud mother of four grown sons.
This is an amazing book, which provides a holistic vision of care, parenting, and teaching – from young children through to adulthood. There is much wisdom, insight, love, and compassion within these 350 pages. Maggie plays down the importance of academic/intellectual success, while highlighting the many other areas of importance for youth development/quality of life/community.
There is a lot of attention given to the changes between the post-WWII family setting in Australia, and the outcomes for young people in the 1990s/early 21st century. Maggie also contrasts her rural/farm upbringing with the densely populated urban environments (where most children grow up)… Some of this feels a bit sentimental and could be rose-coloured glasses. However, there is a strong narrative that’s accompanied by practical tools and suggestions.
The storytelling is very powerful, authentic, and moving. Maggie cares deeply for the health and wellbeing of children, which you can appreciate from her successful podcasts called Parental As Anything… The spelling and grammar in the version of the book that I read was atrocious. But I happily looked through that completely, feeling such affinity for the meaning/purpose/expression of the book.
While there is a little reference to quantitative evidence, Maggie’s empiricism is drawn largely from her rich personal experiences and her keen qualitative observations. And here she excels – with astute writing that captures emotional/social/spiritual issues beautifully…
There was certainly more in this book that I learnt about raising boys, than I did about raising girls (I have both a son and a daughter). This book is unlikely to be read by many Fathers or working parents. Who has time for 350 pages when you’re holding down a full-time job, paying off the mortgage, juggling the kids, and making any time for friends/family/hobbies/sport? It did take a couple of weeks to get into this book, after it had been sitting on my reading pile for a couple of months. I’m very happy to have read it, have huge gratitude to Maggie, and can see the benefit in a second reading down the track.
This is an amazing book, which provides a holistic vision of care, parenting, and teaching – from young children through to adulthood. There is much wisdom, insight, love, and compassion within these 350 pages. Maggie plays down the importance of academic/intellectual success, while highlighting the many other areas of importance for youth development/quality of life/community.
There is a lot of attention given to the changes between the post-WWII family setting in Australia, and the outcomes for young people in the 1990s/early 21st century. Maggie also contrasts her rural/farm upbringing with the densely populated urban environments (where most children grow up)… Some of this feels a bit sentimental and could be rose-coloured glasses. However, there is a strong narrative that’s accompanied by practical tools and suggestions.
The storytelling is very powerful, authentic, and moving. Maggie cares deeply for the health and wellbeing of children, which you can appreciate from her successful podcasts called Parental As Anything… The spelling and grammar in the version of the book that I read was atrocious. But I happily looked through that completely, feeling such affinity for the meaning/purpose/expression of the book.
While there is a little reference to quantitative evidence, Maggie’s empiricism is drawn largely from her rich personal experiences and her keen qualitative observations. And here she excels – with astute writing that captures emotional/social/spiritual issues beautifully…
There was certainly more in this book that I learnt about raising boys, than I did about raising girls (I have both a son and a daughter). This book is unlikely to be read by many Fathers or working parents. Who has time for 350 pages when you’re holding down a full-time job, paying off the mortgage, juggling the kids, and making any time for friends/family/hobbies/sport? It did take a couple of weeks to get into this book, after it had been sitting on my reading pile for a couple of months. I’m very happy to have read it, have huge gratitude to Maggie, and can see the benefit in a second reading down the track.
Images in this review
