Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17385 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
GARY CHAPMAN is the author of the New York Times bestselling The Five Love Languages book series. He is the director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc., and travels around the world presenting seminars. Gary's radio program airs on more than 100 stations. For more information, visit (www.garychapman.org.)

Customer Reviews

practical suggestions to develop a loving family
It's not only a description of the five signs of a loving family but a helpful guide with practical advices about how to show love to your spouse and kids.
Some times it gives obvious advices.

How to Have a Healthy, Functional Family
While blending a family, I picked up this book for help in building some healthy habits. I've read and enjoyed other works by this author (see many of them right here on Amazon).

This book is well-written and shows all families (not just blended or stepfamilies) how to move forward toward unity. I was not disappointed; read this book before or after "The Five Love Languages" by the same author; you'll enjoy how the two books fit nicely together!

Helpful for building a family, especially good for stepfamilies.

Barbara Sheldon, M.S.W.
I also highly recommend: Happily Remarried: Making Decisions Together * Blending Families Successfully * Building a Love That Will Last

Unstated ethno-centrism, but very useful within that bias
This book has a very strong tone of Christian conservativism about it. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that, but some more liberal-minded readers may be put off by it, as I was. The author has a background in anthropology and has lived among other cultures. While he suggests that this gives him insight into how healthy families work, he does not write from the objective perspective one might expect from an anthropologist. The whole of the book seems to take his American Christian perspective for granted; and in spite of scattered generalized references to other religions being "ok", the book seems to be written for an audience who also takes this viewpoint for granted. That being said, there are some wonderful suggestions and tips which can be applied in any kind of home. It is a quick read and extremely useful (though I wouldn't say inspiring). One further thing: I was at first put off by some of the chapter titles (e.g. "The Husband as a Loving Leader", "For the Wives Only: The Fine Art of Encouraging") - they seemed sexist to me, i.e. that the husband should run the household and the wife should encourage and support her husband in his role (leading only in a deceptive way, when at all). In fact, in spite of the titles, these chapters are really just about spouses being mutually supportive of each other and fostering an equal partnership in marriage. That's something that most people, liberal or conservative, can agree upon.