The New York Times Book Review - Alan Paul
Anyone will understand [China] better after reading this book, the heart of which is Chu's experience of enrolling her 3-year-old son in an elite Shanghai preschool…The author befriends two high-achieving Shanghai high school students, one meticulously working the system and the other counting the days until she can abandon it in favor of an American university. Along with an array of international education experts, they serve as insightful commentators as Chu pulls back to examine the broader system…
From the Publisher
No reporter has gone as deep as she has into what makes Chinese and American schools different today, or given more reasons we should not copy the Chinese. Yet her rollicking account has hope for both cultures, because they share a deep interest in what children learn.” — Washington Post
“Chu’s narrative is told with the honesty of a journalist, allowing readers to understand the conclusions she draws from her journey but also to form their own view of Chinese education. For anyone who wishes to expand their understanding about Chinese society and its impact on education.” — Library Journal, starred review
“This book had me at page one! Whip smart, hilariously funny, and shocking. A must-read.” — Amy Chua, author of The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and The Triple Package
“Anyone will understand [China] better after reading this book…. Chu vividly sketches these differences [between Chinese and American school systems] in terms that will make readers ponder what they actually think about rote memorization and parents question their preferences for their own children.” — New York Times
“This engaging narrative is personalized by Chu’s often humorous recollections of attending American schools as the daughter of immigrants. Little Soldiers offers fascinating peeks inside the world’s largest educational system and at the future intellectual “soldiers” American kids will be facing.” — Booklist
“Undoubtedly revealing, fascinating, and filled with ‘aha’ moments.” — Christian Science Monitor
“This is a rare look inside the gates of Chinese schools that helps demystify many traits and behaviors of the Chinese people.” — Deborah Fallows, contributing writer for The Atlantic and author of Dreaming in Chinese
“Lenora Chu, a gifted journalist, has written a fascinating comparison of the US and Shanghai education systems. Little Soldiers offers important insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each. There is much to be learned here about the elements of a better education system for the 21st century.” — Tony Wagner, Expert in Residence, Harvard University Innovation Lab and author of The Global Achievement Gap and Creating Innovators
“An investigative look at the Chinese educational system and how it produces such a large number of high-performing students.” — Book Riot
“This provocative investigation examines cultural differences between the East and West, and the benefits and shortcomings of how both approach education.” — Real Simple, “The Best New Books to Read This Month”
“The American and Chinese ways of educating children are approaching a head-on collision begging the question ‘which system best prepares kids for success?’ In Little Soldiers, Lenora Chu deploys her journalistic inquiry and her motherly heart to investigate the attributes that underlie this urgent question. Chu’s fascinating storytelling urges the reader to ask questions like, ‘Do the ends justify the means?’ ‘Is a child’s life for a parent or government to dictate, or is it their own?’ . . . Necessary reading for educators, parents, and anyone interested in shaping the character and capabilities of the next generation of Americans.” — Julie Lythcott-Haims, New York Times bestselling author of How to Raise an Adult
Christian Science Monitor
Undoubtedly revealing, fascinating, and filled with ‘aha’ moments.
Booklist
This engaging narrative is personalized by Chu’s often humorous recollections of attending American schools as the daughter of immigrants. Little Soldiers offers fascinating peeks inside the world’s largest educational system and at the future intellectual “soldiers” American kids will be facing.
Book Riot
An investigative look at the Chinese educational system and how it produces such a large number of high-performing students.
Washington Post
No reporter has gone as deep as she has into what makes Chinese and American schools different today, or given more reasons we should not copy the Chinese. Yet her rollicking account has hope for both cultures, because they share a deep interest in what children learn.
Tony Wagner
Lenora Chu, a gifted journalist, has written a fascinating comparison of the US and Shanghai education systems. Little Soldiers offers important insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each. There is much to be learned here about the elements of a better education system for the 21st century.
New York Times
Anyone will understand [China] better after reading this book…. Chu vividly sketches these differences [between Chinese and American school systems] in terms that will make readers ponder what they actually think about rote memorization and parents question their preferences for their own children.
Deborah Fallows
This is a rare look inside the gates of Chinese schools that helps demystify many traits and behaviors of the Chinese people.
Amy Chua
This book had me at page one! Whip smart, hilariously funny, and shocking. A must-read.
Julie Lythcott-Haims
The American and Chinese ways of educating children are approaching a head-on collision begging the question ‘which system best prepares kids for success?’ In Little Soldiers, Lenora Chu deploys her journalistic inquiry and her motherly heart to investigate the attributes that underlie this urgent question. Chu’s fascinating storytelling urges the reader to ask questions like, ‘Do the ends justify the means?’ ‘Is a child’s life for a parent or government to dictate, or is it their own?’ . . . Necessary reading for educators, parents, and anyone interested in shaping the character and capabilities of the next generation of Americans.
Washington Post
No reporter has gone as deep as she has into what makes Chinese and American schools different today, or given more reasons we should not copy the Chinese. Yet her rollicking account has hope for both cultures, because they share a deep interest in what children learn.
Booklist
This engaging narrative is personalized by Chu’s often humorous recollections of attending American schools as the daughter of immigrants. Little Soldiers offers fascinating peeks inside the world’s largest educational system and at the future intellectual “soldiers” American kids will be facing.
BookPage
Mixing personal anecdotes, observations of Chinese classrooms, interviews with parents and students and thought-provoking facts about Chinese education, the author reveals how yingshi jiaoyu—high-stakes testing—has created a culture of stress and conformity…. Chu lets readers consider what skills a 21st century student needs and offers insight on the future of global education.
Marc Tucker
Gripping, perceptive, honest, revealing, but, above all, deeply thoughtful. When a Chinese-American woman raised in a thoroughly Chinese home in the United States, rebelling against her parents every step of the way, settles in Shanghai and puts her son in a Chinese school, everything she thought she knew about her values and her views on education is up for review. The reader gets a priceless view of both education systems through this prism.
Gish Jen
What if you had a child in one of those Shanghai super-schools? Would the child love it? Hate it? Become a math whiz? A robot? Both? As Lenora Chu takes us along on her own adventure in parenting, she affords us, not only an insider’s view of China, but an exploration of people- and society-making at its most foundational. Riveting, provocative and unflinchingly candid, Little Soldiers is a must-read for parents, educators, and global citizens alike.
Evan Osnos
Little Soldiers is a book that will endure. With honesty and a terrific sense of humor, Lenora Chu has produced not only an intimate portrait of raising a family far from home but also the most lucid and grounded account of modern Chinese education that I’ve ever seen. She brilliantly tests our notions of success and creativity, grit and talent, and never shrinks from her conclusions.
Peter Hessler
Little Soldiers is the best book I’ve read about education in China. Lenora Chu’s perspective is unique: as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, she was educated in the American system, and then she returned to China and enrolled her own son in a Shanghai public school. She tells this personal story with great insight and humor, and it’s combined with first-rate research into the current state of education in China.
Madeline Levine
Little Soldiers asks us to think deeply about what we value and what we want for our children – academic success, workplace success, group achievement, individual achievement, creativity, love of learning. I couldn’t put this book down. It’s a game changer that challenges our tendency to see education practices in black and white.
Library Journal
★ 09/01/2017
As the American education system is constantly being pitted against the standards of other countries, the impact of culture on student performance is often left undiscussed. Journalist Chu bridges this gap by offering an in-depth look at primary school in China, where her three-year-old son spent two years in attendance. The text is an insightful combination of personal narrative peppered with journalistic analysis and observation. This perspective, conveyed through Chu's own multicultural background, offers commentary on the good, including behavioral outcomes and robust curriculum, and the bad, delving into the military-like discipline, high-stakes testing, and incidences of cheating. The stories are often infused with humor as the author outlines Chinese culture and its influence on her, parenting mishaps, and cultural misunderstanding. Additionally, Chu's narrative is told with the honesty of a journalist, allowing readers to understand the conclusions she draws from her journey but also to form their own view of Chinese education. VERDICT For anyone who wishes to expand their understanding about Chinese society and its impact on education. [See Prepub Alert, 4/3/17; "Editors' Fall Picks," p. 31.]—Rachel Wadham, Brigham Young Univ. Libs., Provo, UT
Kirkus Reviews
2017-06-12
A comparison of American and Chinese education systems based on the author's observations of her young son.When journalist Chu, an American mother of Chinese descent, moved to China with her husband and young toddler, Rainer, the couple decided to enroll him in an elite, state-run Chinese public school. Observing that Chinese children were well-behaved and students of all ages were outperforming American students on a variety of topics, the author was also pleased that Rainer would learn Mandarin at an early age. In a few short weeks, Rainer's boisterous nature calmed, he made new friends, and he began learning Chinese. However, he let slip little details of the methods used by his teachers to instill obedience and conformity that made Chu wonder if she and her husband made the right decision. Rainer told his parents that he was force-fed food he disliked, had to sit perfectly still, didn't always get enough water, and was only allowed to use the bathroom at prescribed times. Consequently, Chu set out on an investigation that brought her face to face with vastly different cultural and educational belief systems than what she had experienced in the U.S. as a child. Through this combination of personal stories and investigative reporting, Chu opens a window on to the complex world of communist China and its competitive methodology, which helps raise highly efficient, obedient, intelligent children but also squelches individualism and spontaneous creativity from the beginning. It's a sometimes-chilling portrait of how hundreds of millions of children are being taught to obey as well as an interesting glimpse into the mindset of one couple who let their child stay in the system despite their misgivings. An informative, personal view of the Chinese and their educational system that will have many American readers cringing at the techniques used by the Chinese to create perfect students.
