I really enjoyed the opening chapters of this book and a lot of the topics and information resonated with me, but then I completely lost interest at 25% and finally gave up reading it. It felt too wordy and strayed from a presented topic too often to keep my focus.

The predecessor to this book, Wild + Free, made such an impact on the way I parent and homeschool my children that the moment I saw The Wild + Free Family, I knew I wanted to read it as well.
Because of this, I really wanted to love this book. And, to its credit, I liked it! However, I didn't love it.
The redeemable qualities in W+F Family are that it brought the same empowerment by way of education and insight as W+F. I appreciated the research and data included in the book. It renewed my dedication in many ways.
Where this book fell short for me was that I felt that it was much more curated in a way that was not relatable for me. The target demographic seems to have pivoted from the average homeschooling parent to the Instagram mom with a pristine feed. I felt judgement coming from this book at times, and that didn't resonate with me.
I came away from W+F Family with some great new outlooks, more ideas, and some perspective shifts that will continue to be helpful. However, if I'm being honest, it did not meet my expectations at times. I will continue to recommend Arment's first book, but I will likely use more discretion when recommending this release as I feel it's for a slightly more limited audience.

Thanks so much to Harper Perennial as well as NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

If you're free with the first Wild and Free book, this new addition comes as a close second!
This book walks through creating a family culture in a positive way. It talks a lot about connecting with your children and how to help them thrive in the family and in the world.

It addresses taking care of yourself as a parent, including healing past hurts you may carry.

If you enjoyed the original Wild + Free book, you're bound to love this one too!

Ainsley has done it again! As a seasoned homeschooling momma, Wild and Free is a well known adage around our home. This is the third book I've read by Ainsley Arment and as long as she continues to write, I will continue to read. Her ability to write love into the pages of this book cannot be overstated.
The Wild and Free Family is an encouragement to mommas to sit and stay in the loving arms of your children and to appreciate all the wonders that family life brings to this season of life. The hustle and bustle of 21st century life is so draining on adults, so these lessons on how to calm that down for your children and remember to slow down to connect with them has helped me be able to breathe a little easier and know that in all things family is where I am meant to dwell.
This is not "just another love your family" type of book, but a thoroughly researched and clearly loved topic of one of the leading influential women in the homeschooling community. I appreciated the personal stories, the real life moments where things didn't go smoothly, and the gentle pushes to get out of your comfort zone to love your family well. This book will have pride of place among other greats on my favorites shelf for years to come.

4.25-4.5 stars

"In the absence of doing great things, you can do small things with great love:
The making of meals and folding of laundry.
The reading of books and explaining algebra.
The planning of lessons and creating of moments.
The making of handcrafts and taking nature walks.
The searching for lost lovies and finding favorite toys.
The games you play and the puzzles you build.
The smile you flash when your child looks up.
The hug you give when your spouse walks by.
The tired prayers you pray.
The grieving tears you cry.
The magic of this life isn't found in the hustle and bustle of constant activity but in the intentional, ordinary decisions of our days."

I mean read that again! It's so beautiful and inspiring! I was very excited to receive an arc of WIld+Free Family! Ainsley has this calmness about her. She's steady and reliable. This book reads like a close friend giving you advice. This is aimed a little more to homeschoolers but anyone can learn from what she's written. This is about taking back time and priorities with your family. I truly loved that each chapter starts with a quote. I ended up highlighting most of them. My only complaint is she seemed to repeat herself a lot. I don't know if this was on accident or on purpose but it did get tiring rereading the same thing. And her acknowledgments at the end had me in tears.

"Courage, dear hearts. One diaper, one meal, one tear-stained pillow. One math lesson, one bath time, one hope-they-sleep-tonight. One book, one prayer, one try-again-tomorrow. One moment, one miracle, one day at a time. I believe we can change the world. I believe we already are."

This should be required reading for every family. I'm not even kidding. It has excellent ideas, great explanations on why they do what they do, and just great insight. I seriously will be reading this year after year!

I really enjoyed her first book Wild and Free so I was excited to see she had a new book. Ainsley Arment shares how your family can be different and find your own path. I love her enthusiasm for the outdoors and for children being in nature. I don't think this book is widely different for her first book and other books that share about homeschooling and adventure though.

I have heard of the Wild + Free movement and was curious to learn more, which is why I picked up this book. I don't read a ton of parenting books, but overall I pulled some great advice from this. Mainly the fact that we need to let go of guilt and what we "should" do as parents and be sure to parent our children the way THEY need to be parented. It was really good in that aspect.

I don't homeschool my kids and don't plan to at this point. My husband and I work full time. This book is definitely pro-homeschool and if you feel like that would make you feel inferior if that's not the plan for your family, then I would skip this. There were a few instances of her opinions that didn't sit right with me also.

Overall, this was good and gave some advice that I will keep in mind as I continue on the parenting journey!

I really wanted to love this book, especially since our family is a Wild + Free Family, but I didn’t feel like I gained anything new from this book. I feel like it was a lot of the information I’ve read in other homeschooling and nature books, rearranged, and spit back out. So if you’ve read several homeschooling, outdoors, and adventuring books you may not gain as much as you’d like. If you haven’t, you may take something away from this book.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperOne for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review- all thoughts and opinions are my own.


Wild + Free is slightly controversial among my "world" of homeschooling. Ainsley tended to come out as privileged in her first in the wild and free books regarding time alone from your children and your mental health, and this one... didnt seem much different. While I can understand her intent, I can see the other side that will most likely come up. Overall, I think for those who enjoyed her other books- this will be no different within tastes.

Book is written from a place of White privilege, and heteronormative families.

Author uses the terms counselor and therapist interchangeably-they not same thing as has to do with education/training.

Re: estranged family and reconciliation:
Sometimes this is for good reason and the story she shared about her husbands family is not safe for everyone.

Chapters seem disconnected from each other, more like essays at times esp as she tries to wrap each chapter up with a bow.