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A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by…
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A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story (edition 2013)

by Brenda Ashford (Author)

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767348,317 (4.07)3
"Brenda Ashford is the quintessential British nanny. Prim and proper, gentle and kind, she seems to have stepped straight out of Mary Poppins. For more than six decades Nanny Brenda swaddled, diapered, dressed, played with, sang to, cooked for, and looked after more than one hundred children. From the pampered sons and daughters of lords ensconced in their grand estates to the children of tough war evacuees in London's East End, Brenda has taught countless little ones to be happy, healthy, and thoroughly well bred"--Dust jacket flap.… (more)
Member:MHanover10
Title:A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story
Authors:Brenda Ashford (Author)
Info:Doubleday (2013), Edition: Complete Numbers Starting with 1, 1st Ed, 320 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
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A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny's Story by Brenda Ashford

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Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
This isn't a gossipy tell all of the families that she worked for but more of a historical documentation of the era and how it relates to being a nanny in the UK. ( )
  WellReadSoutherner | Apr 6, 2022 |
Although it gets repetitive towards the end, this was otherwise a surprisingly interesting read. Brenda's presents herself as a little too good to be true---really something of a Mary Poppins---but the stories she tells about post-WWI Britain, WWII, and then the changes she observed afterwards are so interesting, the perfection wasn't really distracting. It was especially interesting reading about the evolution of her empathy towards parents and about her developing awareness of class differences.

I listened to this on audio, and the most annoying thing was that the recipes at the fronts of the chapters were narrated, too. Had I been reading a book, I would have skimmed those rather than reading them word for word.

Overall, though, it was lovely to read about the mid-20th century from the perspective of a member of the "Greatest Generation." Most often I read about this period as written by Baby Boomers, who have their own particular biases. It was amusing to see the attitudes and parenting styles of my parents' generation through Brenda's eyes. It puts GenX and Millennials into a different context and reinforces much that I have observed about Boomers myself. ( )
  ImperfectCJ | Jun 28, 2020 |
Easy but interesting read. Brenda Ashford was a nanny for sixty-something years, meaning she had a front-row seat for all the changes in child-rearing methodology over several decades. Her recollections were interesting, and I picked up a couple of things that I will probably put into practice if/when I have children of my own. But there's nothing mindblowing and it's not a parenting how-to, by any means -- just the thoughts of a longtime nanny (who, interestingly, never had children of her own) looking back over decades of service to more than a hundred children. ( )
  BraveNewBks | Mar 10, 2016 |
Very sweet book. It is a wonderful view of the changes in child rearing that have happened in the last 65 years. She has some good down to earth ideas of how to bring up children. Sweet aphorisms and lovely advice. Several tasty recipes as well. Quite a live Ms Ashford has lived. I'm glad she was able to share it with us. ( )
  njcur | Feb 13, 2014 |
Absolutely delightful. ( )
  nyiper | Aug 16, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
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"Brenda Ashford is the quintessential British nanny. Prim and proper, gentle and kind, she seems to have stepped straight out of Mary Poppins. For more than six decades Nanny Brenda swaddled, diapered, dressed, played with, sang to, cooked for, and looked after more than one hundred children. From the pampered sons and daughters of lords ensconced in their grand estates to the children of tough war evacuees in London's East End, Brenda has taught countless little ones to be happy, healthy, and thoroughly well bred"--Dust jacket flap.

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