Allen Klein (1938–2009)

The overall premise of Secrets Kids Know is that as adults grow up we loose our joy in life. Which affects many aspects of our lives, from our relationships, to our careers and creativity. Mr. Klein helps the reader see a wide variety of things through children's eyes -- with his delightful insights, quotes, examples, and stories.

Each chapter (or secret as Mr. Klein calls them) is a breath of fresh air, here's a brief sampling:

Be a Beginner, where we see how the innocence of not knowing show more something opens us up to all possibilities - without preconceived right or wrong.

Be a Fun Seeker, in which we see how clowning around like a kid can be restorative.

Be Curious, which asks us to use curiosity to inspire our goals. The child-like question "are we there yet?" can be turned around on yourself "Am I there yet?" or your company "Are we there yet?"

Be Truthful, where we learn how to see things as they are, and the value of honest observation, unclouded by adult preconceptions.

Each chapter ends with a "Grow Down" (vs. Grow up) assignment -- more of a suggestion really -- such as taking a nap, blowing bubbles out the car window during a traffic jam (gonna try that one), or consulting your child-like instinct when making important decisions.

I fear I've made Secrets Kids Know sound simplistic -- it not. The author recognizes that adult pressures, worries, and crises can't be solved by being childlike. We can't always live in the moment, as if a three year old. Instead, Mr. Klein suggests that we incorporate child-like tendencies into our day-to-day thoughts and activities in order to cope with the burdens of adulthood, not to mention the nightly news.
Unlike some other self help authors, Mr. Klein is no egotist. He happily intersperses his writing with other's stories, quotes, and insights - often causing this reader to chuckle...

"One good thing about five-year-olds is they are always just a Krazy Straw and some chocolate milk away from the best day ever." Simon Cholland

While I won't be donning a red clown nose (something the author advocates), I did refresh my walking music with some Bee Gees, helped a neighbor's 1 1/2 year old with a chalk drawing on the sidewalk, and, yes, I'll be buying bubbles.

Thank you to Viva Editions and the author for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest and non-compensated review.
See my entire review and others at http://www.bookbarmy.com show less

I enjoyed the short quotes being separated by subject and the broad sources that the quotes were taken from, including the occasional movie or show quotes. The only thing I wish were different is that during each section, the quotes that were similar in key words were not as powerful to me when grouped together as they were. I love when a quote makes me stop and think, and strikes my very core. Often times the first quote of similar key words did that, and the second one would have if it show more were placed a few quotes away. I'm sure there are a lot of people that do like that about this book because it gives it a sense of organization, almost as a subcategory would, but each individual quote didn't impact me as much as I thought it could. show less

Give Yourself or Someone Special the Gift of Postive Thought.

The title of this book really caught my interest. Who doesn't want to live a joyful life? And if you do why not do it with gusto. I think everyone can relate to that. With the author being a motivational speaker I was curious to see what she had to tell me. One concept I really like about this book is how it is divided into sections, like Arts, Creativity, Family, Nature, Pets, Friendship, Laughter, Beauty, Faith and a few more. show more Each section provides a collection of insight to motivate and uplift the reader daily, if read as such. I feel this book does just that and it actually has inspired me in sharing, which I do by placing the quotes in emails to others. Although I read through this book in a few sittings. I feel this book is actually meant to read slowly day by day and more so on those days when one feels they need a pick-me-up.

So does this book make my life more joyful? I believe for one to lead a joyful life one must work at it. Just like one must work on friendship, love and relationships. For this to happen one has to have the right tools to teach us and help us daily into implementing positives into our lives, and this book is a good start. I recommend this book to anyone looking for inspirational and motivational quotes and advice. It also makes a great gift for that special someone. show less

I had hoped that "Mom's the Word" would be filled with little stories and sweet thoughts about moms and motherhood, and that it would offer inspiration, but it is more of a quote book. Even still, it is not a very good quote book. When the author introduces the first section (or chapter) of the book with, "According to Wikipedia...", my stomach turned. He was looking for a source to define "motherhood", and should have used some sort of more reliable resource, in my opinion, or even his own show more definition; as this is a book of quotes, another quote is seriously redundant.

Klein has billed himself as the world's first and only "Jollytologist"; I would have expected something more fun than what is included in this book. Several of the quotes are just the wrong side of pithy or funny; here is a good one, attributed to Groucho Marx: "My mother loved children -- she would have given anything if I had been one." Funny, but not so inspirational (even though I love Ann Lamott): "It's so expensive and time-consuming to have a baby; you might as well keep hothouse orchids. At least you can sell them."

My last gripe is that the pages are sort of cream in color, with peach and teal type. It's a little hard on the eyes, which makes it all the more difficult to enjoy. I'll keep this one with my other quote books: nice as a reference, for when I can't access the internet (heaven forbid!). show less