Famous Family Nights

by Anne Bradshaw, Josi S. Kilpack, Rachel Ann Nunes, et al.

Family nights will never be the same! With stories that are sure to make you smile, Famous Family Nights will inspire you to see the humor and love in the familiar Monday night tradition.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1599552922
• ISBN13: 9781599552927
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Cedar Fort
• Length: 161 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Inspiring!

Trouble with Family Home Evening? Check out Famous Family Nights (great for gifts too) and you'll come away inspired and motivated. Author Anne Bradshaw approached dozens of favorite LDS entertainers, authors, musicians, etc. and asked them to share their experiences with Family Home Evening. The stories will have you laughing one minute, then crying the next. Many are touching, and some are outrageous. But in the end, you'll come away with a renewed resolve to hold consistent Family Home Evenings and most of all, it's okay to be creative (like best-selling author, Rachel Ann Nunes), or it's okay to send the kids to their rooms after (like Best of State Educator, Lu Ann Staheli). And sometimes FHE can be used for simple teaching moments, such as encouraging the children to flush the toilet (as told by Josi S. Kilpack, well-known mystery writer). Stories are shared by Alan Osmond, Carol Lynn Pearson, Annette Lyon, Bruce Summerhays, Susan Easton Black, GG Vandagriff, and Jennie Hansen to name a few. I echo George Dyer's (international opera singer) sentiment, "After reading the first few stories in this book I let out a sigh of relief and a chuckle as I realized my family wasn't so dysfunctional when it came to family home evening experiences after all!"

Bound to be a perennial favorite

Before I got a copy of Famous Family Nights, I knew the book would be well-done because Anne's all about quality. I thought it would be useful and helpful and thought-provoking. I thought it might be a good book to have on hand as we consider what to do for Family Night. It is all of that. But it's also just laugh-out-loud funny sometimes, and at other times very touching. I loved the glimpses into the lives of the contributors and the experiences they shared. I suggest that you can do most of your Christmas shopping by purchasing multiple copies of this book. It's that good. It's that useful and helpful and thought-provoking. It's one of those books that has "something for everyone." It's bound to be a perennial favorite, to be picked up time and time again at various stages of family life. And I think it can help anyone, no matter what your situation, to improve Family Nights. Bottom line: Holding regular Family Nights strengthens family relationships. And isn't that what we're all about? - Reviewed by Janet Kay Jensen, Educator and award-winning author of Don't You Marry the Mormon Boys and co-author, The Book Lover's Cookbook.

Great Resource for Building Families

Several months ago, I was invited to participate in a book project by fellow-LDS author Anne Bradshaw. Her idea was to collect a series of short essays by other well-known LDS artists on the topic of family home evening. I didn't know how the project would turn out, but I wrote my essay, helped her obtain essays from both Alan and Amy Osmond who are friends of mine, then sat back to see how the entire project would come together. This month I found out. Famous Family Nights has been released by Cedar Fort Publishers, and as soon as I got my copy, I sat down to read. What a wonderful experience this has turned out to be. Each essay has touched my heart in some way. I've learned new ideas to try with my own children during home evening, felt the spirit as I've shared in the experiences of other families, and seen how holding home evening can make a difference, even when you're wrangling a bunch of kids who claim they don't want to be there. The essays in this collection come from a wide range of contributors--authors, musicians, artists, and educators among them. There are names you might know--Susan Easton Black, David Glen Hatch, Rachel Ann Nunes, and Dian Thomas to name a few. I feel lucky to have my name among the illustrious group that make up the entire list of ninety-one. Famous Family Nights is great reading, even if you are only a family of one. Readers will discover that their family and situation is much like that of others as we all do our best to nurture and teach those around us in the basics of the gospel, while building the relationship between members of the family. Author of When Hearts Conjoin Contributor to: Famous Family Nights

Great Ideas for Family Togetherness

If you've been around much on Facebook, Goodreads, and Blogger, no doubt you've come across several reviews of the book Famous Family Nights. Well, I am a contributer to this book, but until recently, I never had the opportunity to read the rest. Now I have. I heartily add my recommendations to other reviewers. Not only did I find many great family night ideas, but I learned that other people are just like me! We all struggle, especially when the children are young, but the concept of family night brings so many benefits that we continue to do it. And then at times, the light shines through and the moment is so sweet that we wonder why we ever doubted. I came from this book with a determination to make our family nights more simple, fun, and more varied. Thanks, Anne Bradshaw for compiling this book! For more information, [...]

Famous Family Nights

Famous Family Nights, by Anne Bradshaw, is one of the best books I've ever read on Family Home Evenings. It's an excellent book for parents of all ages! I laughed, I cried, I read several entries over and over and out loud to my hubby. The stories within its pages are so much fun to read. Amazingly, many parents felt their family home evenings were disastrous, which reminded me of some rather catastrophic Family Home Evenings we had in our own home, as well! You'll find stories about measuring lint in belly buttons and stylishly modeling newly-washed clothes over . . . whatever. Many of the stories touched on eternal issues, listening to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and learning to stretch beyond what is expected. Others point out simplicity and directness and honor in following the Family Home Evening pathway. The entire book is a profound statement of love and devotion to family. Famous Family Nights is a great reminder to parents everywhere that the Lord never expected us to get it perfect, He just expected us to do it! The blessings far outweigh the challenges is one of the many themes that run through these beautiful stories. Anne Bradshaw, Famous Family Nights is one book I will read many times over. Thank you so much for your faith and fortitude in bringing such inspirational stories to the world!