4 out of 4 stars
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Despite not being a parent myself, I found myself engrossed in the non-fiction book Beyond the Tiger Mom: East-West Parenting for the Global Age by Maya Thiagarajan. The book explores the differences and similarities in child-raising between Western and Eastern cultures, particularly in terms of education styles. This book will likely appeal to new parents, experienced parents, teachers, cross-hemisphere travelers, or any curious person browsing for a new book.
Thiagarajan was born in India, taught in America for 15 years, and is now raising her family and teaching in Singapore, and thus has seen quite a variety in parenting and teaching styles. She has taught English at top private schools as well as low-income, underprivileged neighborhoods. She has done an immense amount of researching in composing this book, and I feel she is very well qualified to broach this (potentially controversial) subject.
The book is divided into three parts exploring the different influences of culture on child upbringing: academics, work-life balance, and the media. Each chapter even includes “Tips For Parents” at the end to help incorporate positive habits into your own home. The pros and cons between focusing on math vs reading in a child’s early years, the culture of rigorous studying or playing, and the ancient cultural narratives are analyzed fairly. The praise and criticism comes across well balanced; neither culture is perceived to be superior to the other. Thiagarajan makes a point to avoid making generalizations about the cultures as a whole, but uses her own extensive experience, statistics, and anecdotes from other families to get her message across.
I am most impressed by the use of proper citations and statistics in this book. I would expect nothing less of a notable English teacher, of course. The bibliography includes a wide range of sources, proving how thoroughly the author researched her topic before putting words to a paper. Additionally, the book is very well edited and well formatted. Indeed, this has been the best edited and most professional appearing book I have come across in the reviewing process. This is likely due to the company Tuttle Publishing producing the book.
The only complaint I can find about this book is the seeming lack of involvement from the fathers. Nearly all the quotes are from mothers, and generally only mothers concerns about raising their children are addressed. This is not enough to detract from a perfect score, however. I give Beyond The Tiger Mom: East- West Parenting for the Global Age 4 out of 4 stars!
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Beyond the Tiger Mom
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