I found this book very enjoyable and I think it would make a wonderful baby-shower gift for expectant or new parents.
I had the opportunity to interview Jan Kirschner and found his answers about the book very interesting.
The Interview
Q. What inspired you to write this book?
A. The first inspiration for the book was a patient of mine named Clarissa. She was born with Down's Syndrome, had many physical challenges, and underwent a host of major operations at a very young age. She died before she was three. Despite all of those difficulties, she was constantly in a state of bliss, and radiated that bliss to everyone she came in contact with. That was the first example I had seen of a young child acting as a life teacher to her elders in such a clear-cut manner. The other inspiration for the book was our daughter Naomi, about whom it was written. Before she was born, Tracy and I read numerous books about how to raise children, but once she was with us, we realized it was she who was "raising" us to a higher level of mind and heart. In fact, we saw that by simply paying attention to the very obvious signals she was giving us, all of us were much happier and more fulfilled than if we tried to obey any "rules" about how to deal with a new child. Interestingly enough, we searched bookstores and libraries and couldn't find a book that took this particular slant on parenting, and so we felt compelled to write one. We followed that path with both her and our son, Aaron, who is temperamentally quite different than his sister. Judging from how delighted they both seem with life at ages 3 and 15 months respectively, and how they have blossomed in every possible way, it seems to have worked well.
Q. Have you published any other books, or do you plan on publishing any books in the future?
A. This is the first book we have published. We are currently working on the sequel, "The Little Goo-Roo Turns Two: Lessons From Your Toddler", as well as "More Little Goo-Roos", a book based on lessons other parents have learned from their children. Our desire is to create a series all the way up to "The Teenage Goo-Roo", a book that many parents with teenage children have begged us to write immediately!
Q. The Little Goo-Roo is written as a children's book, but it is for adults. Could you explain what motivated you to write the book in this manner?
A. First of all, we realized that new parents don't have any time. So we wanted to make it as simple and quick as possible for them to get through. Also, we wanted to be able to present the life lessons they could learn from their babies without the stories behind them, so that people wouldn't anticipate the learning in any preconceived way. As a result, we decided on the half book, half journal format, to allow the parents to fill in their own story in relation to each of the lessons. We want the book to enrich and help illuminate each parent's own experience.