The Happiest Kids in the World, Rina Mae Acosta
The Happiest Kids in the World, Rina Mae Acosta
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The Happiest Kids in the World
How Dutch Parents Help Their Kids (and Themselves) by Doing Less

Author: Rina Mae Acosta, Michele Hutchison

Narrator: Henrietta Meire, Karen White

Unabridged: 7 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/04/2017

Synopsis

The secret to raising the happiest kids in the world? Whatever it is, it’s somewhere in the Netherlands.Would parents rather their children be successful or happy? Kids in the US face lots of pressure to excel—often at the expense of happiness. But does it have to be this way? Not in the Netherlands! In The Happiest Kids in the World, expats Rina Mae Acosta and Michele Hutchison—both married to Dutchmen and bringing up their kids in the Netherlands—examine the unique environment that enables the Dutch to turn out such well-adjusted, independent children. With heaps of good humor, and no shortage of amazement, the authors are delighted to find that Babies get an average of fifteen hours of sleep per day,Children learn bike safety and proficiency in school,Teenagers are less likely to get pregnant than their counterparts in almost every other nation, andParents really do serve chocolate sprinkles for breakfast!Along the way, they discover that the most commonly strived-for grade is just passing—six points out of ten—how to achieve the perfect work-life balance, and that being normal is crazy enough.

About Rina Mae Acosta

Rina Mae Acosta is a writer from California currently living in the Netherlands with her Dutch husband and two young sons. She founded the successful parenting blog Finding Dutchland.

About Michele Hutchison

Michele Hutchison worked in publishing in Britain before moving to Amsterdam in 2004. She is now a prominent translator of Dutch literature and lives in a traditional Dutch house with her husband and two children.

About Henrietta Meire

Henrietta Meire is a full-time voice-over artist and actress. In addition to narrating audiobooks, she has voiced numerous commercial and charity campaigns, as well as video game and animation characters. As an actress, she has appeared on stage, on television, and in a number of popular films.

About Karen White

Karen White has been narrating audiobooks since 1999, with more than two hundred to her credit. Honored to be included in AudioFile's Best Voices and Speaking of Audiobooks's Best Romance Audio 2012 and 2013, she is also an Audie Award finalist and has earned multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and Library Journal starred reviews. She currently lives with her family in Wilmington, North Carolina. Publishers Weekly says of Karen's narration of Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick, "Karen White delivers a stunning reading, her character interpretations are confident and well-rounded, and she forges a strong bond with the audience." Speaking of Audiobooks says, "Karen is one of my auto-buy narrators-if I think a book may interest me, her narration will sway me to give it a try."

Reviews

Goodreads review by Meghan

Short of moving to the Netherlands, there wasn't much practical advice for those of us living in the US.......more

Goodreads review by Jane

It's worth getting to know Dutch parenting methods, however not necessarily from this book. I found the narration where the author is constantly comparing US/UK to the Netherlands quite annoying. Im not from any of these countries but after a while it became so predictable that the US/UK methods are......more

Goodreads review by Fliss

I was interested in reading this book, as I'm married to a Dutchman myself. Whilst there were some interesting points raised, the book was incredibly anecdotal and not particularly representative of Dutch parenting/culture en masse. There were some scientific studies included, but I got the feeling......more

Goodreads review by ElaKa

The book has few interesting points but not sure it all needed 300 pages of explanation (maybe because I live in the Netherlands and many things were not new to me). Also I missed some points of critique, the book presents the Dutch way in pink colors and relays mainly on some good examples from fri......more

Goodreads review by Christine

I liked this book, it made me laugh out loud. As always, reading about parenting in other cultures is fascinating to me. However, other than move to Amsterdam, this book really did not have a lot of practical advice for life here in states.......more

Quotes

“Respective sections alternate between American narrator Karen White and British narrator Henrietta Meire, a production choice that helps to clearly delineate each author’s perceptions…Narrators Meire and White both deliver clear and engaging performances, letting the authors’ interesting observations about Dutch culture speak for themselves.” AudioFile

“An eye-opening and badly-needed dose of perspective. In my next life, I want to be Dutch.” Pamela Druckerman, New York Times bestselling author

“I’m done having babies, but this book made me (almost) want to have one more, just so I can raise it the Dutch way!” Jen Mann, New York Times bestselling author

“Stressing less and relaxing more as the recipe for happy children? It might be time we all ‘go Dutch.’” Today.com

“Clear and concise…This is one of the most convincing parenting books to come across my desk in the last year.” Sunday Times (London)

“The key to raising happy kids?..Do as the Dutch do.” Washington Post

“American parents exhausted by the pressures and expectations of parenting will appreciate this refreshing look at how another culture handles the same issues.” Publishers Weekly

“A fascinating book—one I wish I had read sooner! In fact, the more I read the more I became tempted to move our entire family to the Netherlands.” Sarah Turner, author of The Unmumsy Mum

Awards

  • Foreword Reviews INDIES Book of the Year Award
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