The Well-Versed Parent

Jane E. Hunter, MD

 

From Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, author of
Kitchen Table Wisdom & My Grandfather’s Blessings:

 

“Dr. Hunter has created a book of exquisite insight into the
feelings, hopes and dreams that lie beneath the parenting
experience. A wise and beautiful book of essays and poetry
for parents of all ages. And grandparents too!”

 

For more than two decades Jane E. Hunter, MD, a pediatrician and mother, sat in her blue doctor’s chair and treated children, conferred with parents, and provided guidance for the journey through childhood.

 

In her office and on home and hospital visits she listened to the strengthening rhythms of each growing family, attuned to the seismic adjustments parents and children make that are barely perceptible on the surface. Hunter found that the “distilled and genuine language of poetry” authentically expresses these deeper experiences of parenthood.

 

This collection of fifty poems explores the emotional and physical shifts of parenting. The combined wisdom of more than forty poets, including Sylvia Plath, Naomi Shihab Nye, Gary Snyder and Sharon Olds, subtly ex-pose the joys and fears families feel but rarely discuss. Prefaced with a blend of Hunter’s anecdotes and essays on child development, each chapter honors a moment of transformation for children and their parents. This poet-pediatrician’s book is a unique and powerful treatise on raising children, offering a new language of love for families to share.