A ★★★★★ Book Review of Let Them Be Kids by Jessica Smartt | Adventure, Boredom, Innocence and Other Gifts Children Need
*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author and publisher in partnership with JustRead Publicity Tours. All thoughts below are my own and I was not required to post a positive review. Also, this blog post includes affiliate links which means I will receive a commission based on sales generated via these links.
Blogger and author, Jessica Smartt, has once again delivered an insightful, witty and encouraging treasure trove of resources for parents who desire to create beauty, passion and freedom in their children's lives… A book to reference time and again, love and share!
★★★★★ || Many of you may remember how much I raved about Memory-Making Mom when Jessica Smartt debuted her first book last year. This summer, she has released yet another incredible guidebook for mothers and parents on the gifts we can offer our children in their early, formative years - things such as self-confidence, creativity, manners, work ethic, family, faith and adventure… Values to offer right here, right now in order to build a strong foundation for adulthood later in life.
Let Them be Kids is easy to read, fun and educational.
As I read through this book, I once again found myself reading portions aloud to my husband. We chuckled together over Smartt’s witty storytelling and related to her profound observations. In a world that moves too fast, exposes children to adulthood too early and takes away the precious moments of childhood, this book is helping our family slow down and consider the impact things like technology, television and busyness have on our daughter.
Let Them Be Kids is a great a collection of values, observations and relations Smartt has set with her own three children. She offers mothers and caregivers like myself insight, encouragement and a well-formed plan for bringing light, laughter, imagination and innocence back to childhood. I appreciated that her foundations were rooted in faith and that she offered not only suggestions, but practical advice for implementing some of these values. Smartt encourages family togetherness, travel and support which is an emphasis we strive hard for in our own family. Smartt’s advice is simple, doable and of deepest quality. My personal favorite sections included the Let Them Be Kids Manifesto, the Family Mission Statement and the Family Technology Manifesto.
My personal recommendation is for mamas and caregivers to give this book a try because I believe it will leave you with much to consider and some definite ideas to implement.
“When we gift our kids childhood (the space and nurture to grow in a healthy way), we are in fact changing history. We are helping to develop human beings who are brave and self-sacrificing and have integrity, who appreciate and care for the earth, who defend the rights of the weak, who have been loved and are able to love, who’ve developed intellectual focus to forge new territories in medicine, engineering and politics, who have soaked up the good old books and written some new ones, and who can lead countries and companies and families. When we save childhood, we are literally shaping the next generation. ”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Author Jessica Smartt | Photo courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/SmarterEachDay/
Jessica Smartt is a former teacher, current homeschool mom, and passionate Christ-follower. She has been published on The Huffington Post and has written an ebook on How To Introduce Your Child To Jesus. She is passionate about helping moms to detach from the ever-present lure of technology (which can feel way more fun than parenting), about helping women recover from worry (been there, done that!) and about how to be a confident, purposeful homeschooling mom. You can visit her on her website, http://smarttereachday.com, or follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.
