Assessment:
Idea: Jain's memoir shares episodes from her numerous experiences traveling both on her own and with her husband and small children. While frequently relatable, the book often reads like a family travelogue holding greater meaning for those along for the journey than for outside readers.
Prose/Style: Jain’s prose has a conversational, lively, humorous tone that is a natural fit for her stories relating to traveling with kids.
Originality: This memoir stands apart from other works through its focus on the joys and trials of traveling internationally with very young children. The author's “Lesson Learned” segments offer valuable tips to other new moms traveling abroad. These pertinent insights might be better integrated into the work as a whole, and the book itself presented in a manner that highlights this focus.
Character Development/Execution: From Jain’s depiction, the reader receives a clear understanding of the author’s love of travel, while the unique personalities and interests of her family members shine through the pages. The anecdotes that the author shares are enjoyable and memorable, though the book might be enhanced through a somewhat more pronounced conceptual framework.
Date Submitted: November 12, 2020
“Entertaining vignettes and useful advice by a mother of four...Jain shares amusing anecdotes and things she’s learned during her journeys with her kids in the United States and abroad in a blend of engaging remembrance and practical travel manual. She advocates traveling with kids as a means to instill in them a sense of compassion and a love of new experiences, but the key goal is to have fun together as a family…She effectively stresses that both children and travel can be unpredictable, so resourcefulness and flexibility are essential. The author has a flair for apt descriptions: She compares a crowd in the Sistine Chapel to “four-year-olds clustered around a soccer ball” and bikes in Copenhagen at rush hour to “the mosquitos of Belize,” and she muses about mountains “capping the earth like meringue on a pie.” Her voice is down-to-earth and her sense of humor and commitment to environmental sustainability are evident throughout. A parenting memoir and travel guide that will inspire.”
