Aamodt, Sandra, Ph.D. and Sam Wang, Ph.D. Welcome to Your Child's Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College. New York: Bloomsbury, 2011.
Instead of whining this time about hearing yet another synopsis of the Iowa Gambling or marshmallow tests (both of which do appear in this book), I'm intrigued. In Welcome to Your Child's Brain, the authors use clear examples, interesting asides (such as busted myths, "did you know?" stories, and theories), and even cartoons to make detailed discussions of brain function and child development manageable for the masses. I found it extremely useful to know that at certain ages, a child's brain just doesn't allow him to suppress impulses or detect causation. That opens the door to appropriate behavior modification rather than reactive anger and punishment. I don't punish my cat for getting hairballs, after all.
While I wasn't quite riveted enough by the book (it's fairly technical, after all) to tab a bunch of exciting passages, there's more than enough here to make it worth a read whether you're a parent or not. If you don't have kids, you'll probably remember being one and some of the material will ring a bell. If you do, there are very practical tips that you could put in action tonight. It may be all in your head, but the results are real.
Rating: ***
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