browse our catalog
press corner
Nov 28, 2008 ⋅ ParenstDigest in the Chicago TribuneCheck out what the Chicago Tribune has to say about ParentsDigest!
Oct 28, 2008 ⋅ Seventhgeneration.com blog
Mom & Pop Operation: Primo Parenting in a Digital Nutshell
Here's the thing: All the bravado and mental preparation in the world melts into a big puddle of nothing when your first child gets placed into your arms. In my case, courage and certitude were vanquished by an unholy mix of icy fear and incendiary joy. Amidst it all came the sudden revelation that I was a rank parenting amateur of the first magnitude who'd suddenly been handed the ball in the Super Bowl of Life.
At that point, as I stared into the vast child-rearing wilderness stretching out before me, parenting books seemed like a really great idea whose time had come. Except that there wasn't a spare moment to read so much as a preface, and ParentsDigest was still just a twinkle in its founder's eye.
A friend connected me to this resource over the weekend, and it's one worth sharing. Essentially, ParentsDigest buys the parenting books and does the reading for us. When they finish a title, they create an 8-page summary. Readers subscribe and get two of these summaries every month, which means we can now read 24 great parenting books a year without taking time-we-don't-have to do it.
There's a lot to be said for this approach. As humanity rapidly evolves in the 21st century, we're learning all kinds of new and surprising things about how to raise healthy, well-balanced kids. It's hard to keep up with all the emerging information, but it's more important than ever that we try. A service like ParentsDigest is a good way to stay ahead of the curve. And if an author's particular philosophy should turn out to not be our own cup of parental tea, we haven't wasted hours and hours arriving at that conclusion.
I also like the books ParentsDigest has selected. They've got some notable "green" titles in the mix, including my own, if-you-can-only-read-one pick, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, which serves as a good indicator that they're digging deep and thinking wide here.
Overall the selections seem pretty progressive and forward thinking -- good stuff that we don't need to find the time to read. That said, I'm generally not a big fan of Cliff Notes style reading. No matter how good a summary is (and these seem to be good), you just can't reduce a 300-page volume to eight pages without losing a lot of what makes you pick up a book to begin with. You'll get the big picture, but the nuances and subtleties of the issues at hand, the grey areas that really make up the bulk of everything parents have to deal with, will be lost in translation. So while ParentsDigest will probably give you the warm fuzzies, I would say that if you end up liking a summary they've created, do your family a favor, read the real thing, and fully harvest all the ideas it has to offer.
Because while shortcuts are good, occasionally we are best served by the scenery we find along the longer road.
Sep 17, 2008 ⋅ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kira Swaim (415) 209-4750 kira@parentsdigest.com www.parentsdigest.com
Let’s Face It…..Parenting Is A Multi-Tasking Juggling Act
ParentsDigest.com Takes At Least One Ball Out Of The Air
Parenthood is an exhilarating, life changing, and extraordinarily exhausting experience. It brings new meaning to the word “juggle” and is unexplainable until you are engulfed in it. Most parents go into it with the best intentions and aspirations. Then, upon countless sleepless nights and overscheduled days, many just try to keep their heads above water.
It happens quickly. Parents on the fly realize there is no sure-fire approach to parenting. That’s why so many advice-ridden, inspiring parenting books have been written. But, who has the time or energy to search through them as they stack up on their nightstand?
Thankfully, parents can now turn to ParentsDigest.com to get the information they need. The website is the inspiration of a Marin couple, Pam and Jack McLaughlin, who found themselves in a non-stop world with three kids under the age of three. Needless to say, there was no time to scour through books to learn about topics ranging from two year old meltdowns to bringing up children in a green, healthy environment. But, as their children grew and life became a bit more manageable they had a moment to breathe and gave birth to a great idea.
Why not summarize top-notch parenting books and share the best bite sized nuggets with over-tired parents? That idea is the foundation of ParentsDigest.com. An experienced editorial team writes concise eight page snapshots of parenting books so parents don’t have to comb through them. For less than $6 a month, two book summaries are delivered on topics the parents choose. And, for a limited time, parents can visit ParentsDigest.com and receive two free summaries.
“Ever since I was little, I loved to read. I was that girl that hid under the covers, clenched my flashlight in my hand, and read the latest Nancy Drew mystery,” says ParentsDigest founder Pam McLaughlin. “When my daughter was born, I naturally scoured the bookstores for parenting books. And, with twins arriving shortly thereafter, all I craved was parenting advice. But I had no time or energy to find it. And I know other parents don’t either. That’s why we started ParentsDigest.com. It’s basically “CliffNotes” for parents.”
Currently the summaries are available via email or can be downloaded in a PDF format.
ParentsDigest.com is located in Larkspur, California. The company has summaries on over 130 number of books and has plans to have a minimum of 200 by the end of the year. For more information, visit ParentsDigest.com.