Small Animals

Parenthood in the Age of Fear

By: Kim Brooks

Narrated by: Kim Brooks

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

This program includes a bonus interview with the author. 

One morning, Kim Brooks made a split-second decision to leave her four-year old son in the car while she ran into a store. What happened would consume the next several years of her life and spur her to investigate the broader role America’s culture of fear plays in parenthood. In Small Animals, Brooks asks: Of all the emotions inherent in parenting, is there any more universal or profound than fear? Why have our notions of what it means to be a good parent changed so radically? In what ways do these changes impact the lives of parents, children, and the structure of society at large? And what, in the end, does the rise of fearful parenting tell us about ourselves?

Fueled by urgency and the emotional intensity of Brooks’s own story, Small Animals is a riveting examination of the ways our culture of competitive, anxious, and judgmental parenting has profoundly altered the experiences of parents and children. In her signature style - by turns funny, penetrating, and always illuminating - which has dazzled millions of fans and been called "striking" by the New York Times Book Review and "beautiful" by the National Book Critics Circle, Brooks offers a provocative, compelling portrait of parenthood in America and calls us to examine what we most value in our relationships with our children and one another.    

©2018 Kim Brooks (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Part memoir, part history, part documentary, part impassioned manifesto...it might be the most important book about being a parent that you will ever read." (Emily Rapp Black, New York Times best-selling author of The Still Point of the Turning World)

"Kim Brooks's moving narration is the perfect vehicle for the drama surrounding her arrest for a momentary lapse in judgement...Brooks's lyrical writing and largely dispassionate narration will draw parents into this larger dynamic and restore their freedom to do what they believe is best as parents." (AudioFile Magazine)

"Small Animals interrogates how we weigh risk as parents, how we judge one another's parenting and what the costs might be - not just to parents, but to children, too - of a culture of constant surveillance." (New York Times Book Review)

Cover is good some of the story is captivating.

I enjoyed the book and recommended it to friends but what is a really cool story of a personal parental experience get a bit deep into public policy later in the book. I agree with the authors perspectives but the discussion of public policy and how we might have gotten their is pretty blah compared to her compelling personal story of the insanity of public policy and the fears of others intruding on our lives. We really need to learn to leave others alone to make their own decisions based on their own risk tolerance. Terrible what government put this lady thru. We need a way to remove prosecutors that fail to use appropriate discretion in pursuit of political ends rather than anything related to justice. One invasive busy body can cause a lot of trouble for an innocent working mom.

Essential reading

I wish this was the only parenting book I’d ever read. Kim Brooks has put into words things I’ve felt but haven’t been able to properly express: The way we do it just isn’t the way it’s supposed to be done. I loved this book!

a must-read for parents and those who know them

small animals is an important inspection of the causes and effects of modern day fear-based child rearing.

Way to dramatic

This author is way to anxious and dramatic. Parenthood isn’t that catastrophic. I feel for her peril but she has a proclivity for drama so it isn’t surprising in some ways.

a must read for American parents

thought provoking. makes me want to read more on the topic. makes me want to be a better parent

The only parenting book you need to read!

Really enjoyed this book. I thought it was very well-researched and put together, informative without being boring.

This book is everything!

Kim Brooks speaks to my heart as a mother! Her words were true, relatable and encouraging in a world where many moms feel like their every move is scrutinized by anyone and everyone. This honest examination of the state of modern parenting, and even more so, modern motherhood, should be a warning to us to reconsider the direction in which we’re going. Thank you, Kim, for having the guts to share your story!

Terminally self absorbed

The author left her toddler “for a few minutes”
(her version) in a Target parking lot while she ran in to make a purchase. She was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She then dedicates every hour of the book to excusing her “momentary lapse of judgment” (her words) by blaming it on misogyny, patriarchy, law enforcement, the concerned citizens who reported her, poverty,
wealth, education, conservatives, white privilege, district attorneys, Trump, the legal system, judges, societal norms, immigration policy, and nosey neighbors. Wow. She left one person conveniently off the list. The author believes that a parent should be able to be the judge of what constitutes “putting your child at risk.” Which in her self absorbed world includes leaving a toddler alone in a vehicle in a parking lot.

This explains a lot

Kids need space to be self reliant. Well written; well read. Thought provoking. Recommend for book groups and parent groups.

Fascinating!! Every parent should listen!!

so incredibly interesting!! A very compelling argument for allowing kids some Independence. Will definitely recommend to friends and family!!