It Takes a Village | 
 enlarge | Author: Hillary Rodham Clinton
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  70 reviews
Sales Rank: 126995
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0684818434
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.231
EAN: 9780684818436
ASIN: 0684818434
Publication Date: January 18, 1996
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Amazon.com
The First Lady, a longtime child advocate, expresses her concerns for the children of today's world and offers her ideas for developing our society into one that values children's unique contributions.
Book Description
For more than twenty-five years, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has made children her passion and her cause. Her long experience with children -- not only through her personal roles as mother, daughter, sister, and wife but also as advocate, legal expert, and public servant -- has strengthened her conviction that how children develop and what they need to succeed are inextricably entwined with the society in which they live and how well it sustains and supports its families and individuals. In other words, it takes a village to raise a child. This book chronicles her quest -- both deeply personal and, in the truest sense, public -- to discover how we can make our society into the kind of village that enables children to grow into able, caring, resilient adults. It is time, Mrs. Clinton believes, to acknowledge that we have to make some changes for our children's sake. Advances in technology and the global economy along with other developments society have brought us much good, but they have also strained the fabric of family life, leaving us and our children poorer in many ways -- physically, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually. She doesn't believe that we should, or can, turn back the clock to "the good old days." False nostalgia for "family values" is no solution. Nor is it useful to make an all-purpose bogeyman or savior of "government." But by looking honestly at the condition of our children, by understanding the wealth of new information research offers us about them, and, most important, by listening to the children themselves, we can begin a more fruitful discussion about their needs. And by sifting the past for clues to the structures that once bound us together, by looking with an open mind at what other countries and cultures do for their children that we do not, and by identifying places where our "village" is flourishing -- in families, schools, churches, businesses, civic organizations, even in cyberspace -- we can begin to create for our children the better tomorrow they deserve.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 65 more reviews...
 Left field August 13, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is regurgitated Karl Marx. Everyone remembers his spoutings about industry and its relation to class struggle but he was very opinionated on how to raise children to fit in with his vision of a socialist Utopia. And Hillary Clinton's viewpoints mirror his nearly word for word. Maybe people think his writings are too old for it to be labeled plagiarism but it's like she copied it and added a word or two of her own once in a while.
Bought this as a joke gift April 30, 2008
16 out of 21 found this review helpful
I wouldn't read this book for a million dollars. She has shown many times on the campaign trail that nothing that comes out of her mouth has any value at all. She is a politician...and since when can any politician be trusted.
I bought this book to give to a friend as a joke (and it turned out to be pretty funny, I'll spare you the details). Please note that I bought this book used so that Hillary Rodham Chavez didn't receive any money from my purchase.
 Hillary Rodham Clinton's How Tos: Parenting, Policy and Politics February 7, 2008
The premise is a good one (p 317), "Each of us...has the opportunity and responsibility to protect and nurture children." And it would be hard to argue with her contention that (p 16), "Whether or not you are a parent, what happens to America's children affects your present and your future." But the book's subtitle, "And Other Lessons Children Teach Us," is a misnomer, as it is more about lessons Ms. Rodham Clinton wants to impart on readers than those provided by children. The real deal, supposedly, is this (p 17): "It is a statement of my personal views, a reflection of my continuing meditation on children."
Although many topics are touched on, including personal histories of both the Rodham and Clinton clans, and her personal parenting experiences (like six-year-old Chelsea role-playing her father's negative opponent during a reelection campaign), most of the book concerns child-related policy and politics. She shares what the husband and wife team have achieved on the issue: (p 49) "To prevent these children from languishing in foster care, my husband signed legislation...," (p 90) "The Family and Medical Leave Act, the first bill my husband signed into law as President...," (p 137) "The Brady Bill, which my husband signed into law in 1993...," (p 200, 201) " As my husband said in his 1995 State of the Union address:...," "(p 210) "As I said in my speech at the United Nations Fourth World Conference...," (p 237) "On October 31, 1995, I hosted an event at the White House...," (p 244) "I began to work on behalf of education reform in Arkansas in 1983...," and (p 265) "In 1994, the President, again with bipartisan support, signed the School-to-Work Opportunities Act." She sites research: (p 72) "Two in five American teenage girls become pregnant by the age of twenty...," (p 132) "Three times as many children die each year from preventable household accidents than from murder," (p 133) "Nearly half of all American households have guns...," (p 271) "...every year the average American child watches more than a thousand stylized and explicit rapes, murders, armed robberies, and assaults on television," and number four of the Goals 2000 list (p 261), "United States students will be first in the year [by the year 2000] in science and mathematics achievement." And she includes recommendations: (p 82) "Radio and television stations could broadcast child care tips...," (p 120) "Brisk walking, hiking and bicycling are all good exercise and are great ways to spend time together as well," (p 144) "Adults should practice counting to ten and taking a deep breath before contributing to the climate of incivility and insecurity that surrounds us," (p 172) "If more parents introduced their children to faith and prayer at home...I am sure there would be fewer calls for prayer in schools," (p 188) "Standing up for tolerance and respect in front of children gives them models for how to confront bigotry on their own...," and the biggee (p 127) "A reformed health care system that guarantees all children the medical care they need." But overall, it's a bit disjointed and unfocused. While she makes some excellent points, her writing is somewhat stiff and awkwardly overfilled with words and phrases in quotes ("the way things used to be," "come naturally," "upsized," "your turn"). It would have read better if, instead of meandering, she had stuck to the apparent issue: U.S. policy on child-related issues. Better: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, and Dreams of My Father by Barack Obama.
Finding it difficult to get through January 23, 2008
22 out of 30 found this review helpful
I decided to read this book because if Senator Clinton becomes president, I needed to know what we would be dealing with. I must admit that I am finding it difficult to get through, as I am only 1/3 done.
First, I find her words disingenuous about her care, concern, and love for children because I can't help thinking about her stance on abortion. It just doesn't make sense. How could someone adore children this much, and yet disregard those babies in the womb?
Second, Senator Clinton reveals many ideas in regards to caring for babies and children that will fall under the responsibility of the taxpayer. Her ideas include: teaching parents how to care for their baby or child, how to talk to him, how to feed him, how to discipline him, and the like. She highlights programs in Europe and Asia where health care representatives make house visits for 10 days after the birth of a baby, as well as one that makes visits monthly for up to five years to check on the family. Talk about losing our privacy!
Senator Clinton brings up good points, that the family is broken down, and many do not have good intentions when it comes to children. However, govenment stepping in is not the solution. It never is. So many of these issues are already being addressed through government, hospitals, schools, and private organizations to help teach child care, but when people's hearts are not right in the first place, God is the only solution.
In the end, though, I think we can look forward to a lot of these ideas being implemented under the guise of Universal Healthcare, which she is making her number one priority. Besides that caring for children should not be government's job, it scares me very much to know she just may get what she thinks is so important.
 Empathetic Leadership Rules Supreme January 11, 2008
Our country needs an empathetic voice for those who have no voice. This book is worth reading.
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