Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother: An Honest Review

The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was all the rage a few years ago but is just as enlightening without all the hype. I enjoy any book that makes me re-evaluate how I parent and this one certainly does. It’s a book that is hard to stop thinking about, and you will find yourself bringing it up in conversation with your spouse and girlfriends at every turn.

The story itself is a quick read and very engaging, honest, and thought provoking. It reads more like a memoir than a parenting book, so I really enjoyed that aspect. It will give you the courage to push your children a little more and more clearly understand what children are capable of when given the opportunity to be excellent. At the same time, it will allow you appreciate our western sense of freedom of expression and direction. The book will leave you feeling two contradictory feelings: 1. You can do much more as a parent and are doing a lot of things wrong, and 2. You are incredibly loving nurturing as a parent and are doing a lot of things right.

Frequently Asked Questions: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Is Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother a parenting manual?

No, and that is what makes it readable. It reads far more like a memoir than a parenting book — Amy Chua is telling the story of her own family rather than prescribing a method. I really enjoyed that aspect of it. You come away with things to think about rather than a set of rules to follow.

Will it make me feel like a bad parent?

It will make you feel two contradictory things at once, which is the strange gift of this book. You will finish believing both that you could do much more and are getting things wrong, and that you are incredibly loving and nurturing and getting a lot right. Holding both at the same time is uncomfortable and genuinely useful.

Do I have to agree with her methods?

Not remotely. Reading it made me appreciate our western sense of freedom of expression and direction more, not less. What it gave me was courage to push my children a little further and a clearer sense of what children can do when given the chance to be excellent. You can take that without adopting anything else.

Is it still worth reading now that the hype has died down?

More so, I think. The book was all the rage a few years ago and it is just as enlightening without the noise around it. Read now, without the controversy shaping your expectations, it is simply a quick, honest, engaging memoir that happens to raise hard questions about how we raise children.