Start gifting
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks
Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Limited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks when you make the switch!
Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Make the switch
Gift audiobook credit bundles
You pick the number of credits, your recipient picks the audiobooks, and your local bookstore is supported by your purchase.
Start giftingThe Happiest Kids in the World
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreThe secret to raising the happiest kids in the world? Whatever it is, it’s somewhere in the Netherlands.
Would parents rather their children be successful or happy? Kids in the US face lots of pressure to excel—often at the expense of happiness. But does it have to be this way? Not in the Netherlands! In The Happiest Kids in the World, expats Rina Mae Acosta and Michele Hutchison—both married to Dutchmen and bringing up their kids in the Netherlands—examine the unique environment that enables the Dutch to turn out such well-adjusted, independent children. With heaps of good humor, and no shortage of amazement, the authors are delighted to find that
Babies get an average of fifteen hours of sleep per day,Children learn bike safety and proficiency in school,Teenagers are less likely to get pregnant than their counterparts in almost every other nation, andParents really do serve chocolate sprinkles for breakfast!Along the way, they discover that the most commonly strived-for grade is just passing—six points out of ten—how to achieve the perfect work-life balance, and that being normal is crazy enough.
Rina Mae Acosta is a writer from California currently living in the Netherlands with her Dutch husband and two young sons. She founded the successful parenting blog Finding Dutchland.
Michele Hutchison worked in publishing in Britain before moving to Amsterdam in 2004. She is now a prominent translator of Dutch literature and lives in a traditional Dutch house with her husband and two children.
Henrietta Meire is a full-time voice-over artist and actress. In addition to narrating audiobooks, she has voiced numerous commercial and charity campaigns, as well as video game and animation characters. As an actress, she has appeared on stage, on television, and in a number of popular films.
Karen White is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Dreams of Falling and The Night the Lights Went Out. She has two grown children and currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two spoiled Havanese dogs.
Reviews
“Respective sections alternate between American narrator Karen White and British narrator Henrietta Meire, a production choice that helps to clearly delineate each author’s perceptions…Narrators Meire and White both deliver clear and engaging performances, letting the authors’ interesting observations about Dutch culture speak for themselves.”
“An eye-opening and badly-needed dose of perspective. In my next life, I want to be Dutch.”
“I’m done having babies, but this book made me (almost) want to have one more, just so I can raise it the Dutch way!”
“Stressing less and relaxing more as the recipe for happy children? It might be time we all ‘go Dutch.’”
“Clear and concise…This is one of the most convincing parenting books to come across my desk in the last year.”
“The key to raising happy kids?..Do as the Dutch do.”
“American parents exhausted by the pressures and expectations of parenting will appreciate this refreshing look at how another culture handles the same issues.”
“A fascinating book—one I wish I had read sooner! In fact, the more I read the more I became tempted to move our entire family to the Netherlands.”
Expand reviews