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<TITLE>Summary on books for the lay person on child development</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I forgot to summarise this discussion like I promised. It was interesting for sociological reasons as well as in finding books. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Six authors recommended their own books. Some of the books recommended (not all by their own authors) were a little tangential to my/my brother's interests (psychoanalytic, primarily about pregnancy, about raising older children). However many books were also recommended by people who did NOT write them... here are the books recommended with comments, and numbers of votes.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">May I highly recommend (despite the title)<B> The Scientist in </B></FONT>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">the Crib, by Gopnik, Meltzoff and Kuhl</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">? The authors' delight </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">in children illuminates a beautifully and humanely written </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">survey of contemporary research on how children come to know </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">about other people, about language and about the physical </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">world. 3 votes for this book - none from the authors!</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">baby steps, 2003 owl,holt - Claire B Kopp - no more details given</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Lise Eliot's book:</FONT>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">"What's going on in there? How the brain and mind develop in the first</FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">five years of life" (1999). </FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">New York: Bantam.</FONT></B>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Although obviously aimed at interested parents, there was plenty in</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">there that was new for me too.</FONT>
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<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Annette Karmiloff-Smith</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> and her daughter have a best-seller called</FONT><B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">"Baby</FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">It's You",</FONT></B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">great stuff for the lay person. </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">(Note from me: I use the video of this with my undergraduate classes especially for the language/communication examples e.g. over/underextension, joint reference, echolalia). 2 votes for this - neither from the author - but it may be out of print</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Annette Karmiloff Smith's book (which appears to have a nicer cover in the US) "What your baby would ask..." "Some Amazon.com readers apparently think it's too "English" but that may be better than being too American!" As a new mom, I appreciated the format of Annette's book, which was short chapters and easy to read. 3 votes</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Recommended along with:</FONT><B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Hirsh-Pasek/Golinkoff book "How Babies Talk.."</FONT></B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> "They're different in their own ways -- the Karmiloff-Smith book is a bit more general (motor, language, cognitive and social development all covered), where as the Golinkoff/Hirsh-Pasek book is more detailed, but great. I recommend that book all the time, and people seem to like it." 2 votes</FONT></P>
<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Lise Eliot's "Early Intelligence";</FONT></B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Penguin Books,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">1999. </FONT>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Gary Marcus, The Birth of the Mind</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> (Basic Books, January 2004), </FONT>
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<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">'Touchpoints' by Berry Brazelton</FONT></B>
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<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Introduction to Infant Development, </FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">edited by Alan Slater and Michael Lewis</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">, Oxford University </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Press, 2002.</FONT>
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<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Selma Freiberg's 'The Magic</FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Years'</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> but it's psychoanalytic in it's theoretical</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">underpinnings (although it doesn't read so that the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">lay person would even notice) and so I don't know if</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">that's everyone's cup of tea. It covers childhood</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">anxieties and problems from 0-5. </FONT>
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<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Kenn Apel and Julie Masterson</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">,</FONT><B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences, A Parent's Complete Guide to Language Development.</FONT></B> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">It's published by Prima (2001)</FONT></P>
<P><B><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Happy Children by Rudolf Dreikurs</FONT></B><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">, an Adlarian psychologist. There are newer versions of the book, not as good as the old one, which I buy all young parents in the my family: Happy Children: Challenge for Parents, by Rudolf Dreikurs and Vicki Soltz, and, The Challenge of Parenthood by Rudolf Dreikurs. Neither book is really about child development but about rearing them.</FONT></P>
<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">The Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy and Baby's First Year.</FONT></B><BR>
<FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">This one has fantastic information about pregnancy, labor, and delivery, but the second half of the book on the first year is also wonderful. It tells you what to expect, developmentally each month, when to see the doctor, and presents both views on things like the "Mozart Effect", and co-sleeping. </FONT></P>
<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">"Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child" from </FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">John Gottman</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> for parents of children two years and up. The book draws </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">on Gottman's developmental work on children's friendships and peer </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">relationships and his clinical work with married and partnered adults. </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">The self-help style of the book can be a bit off-putting, but the </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">advice on teaching children how to handle emotions and negotiate social </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">relationships is terrific.</FONT>
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<P><B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's "Mother Nature</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">," as a present </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">to scientifically-minded friends expecting a baby. Hrdy tells the </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">biological and anthropological story of mothers, focussing on humans </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">and non-human primates. It is more about mothers and fathers than about </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">infants, but it is a great read for anyone who wants to have a think </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">about the investment of parenting.</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Conclusions?</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Since I really want something less on parenting and not psychoanalytic, I think they'll be getting one undergraduate textbook (maybe this Slater book or the Blackwell Reader - if my undergraduates can cope with it, so can my brother) and one or more of the Karmiloff-Smith, Gopnik et al., or Golinkoff. Probably not just the Golinkoff as they will want something general as well as something on language (although language development is, of course, the most important part!)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Katie Alcock</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Katie Alcock, DPhil</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Lecturer</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Department of Psychology</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">City University</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Northampton Square</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">London EC1V 0HB</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Phone (+44) (0)20 7040 0167</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Fax (+44) (0)20 7040 8581</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Web <A HREF="http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/k.j.alcock" TARGET="_blank">http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/k.j.alcock</A></FONT>
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