Summary on books for the lay person on child development

[Alcock, Katie]

I forgot to summarise this discussion like I promised.  It was interesting
for sociological reasons as well as in finding books.

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.

May I highly recommend (despite the title) The Scientist in
the Crib, by Gopnik, Meltzoff and Kuhl? The authors' delight
in children illuminates a beautifully and humanely written
survey of contemporary research on how children come to know
about other people, about language and about the physical
world. 3 votes for this book - none from the authors!

baby steps, 2003 owl,holt - Claire B Kopp - no more details given

Lise Eliot's book:
"What's going on in there?  How the brain and mind develop in the first
five years of life" (1999).
New York: Bantam.
Although obviously aimed at interested parents, there was plenty in
there that was new for me too.

Annette Karmiloff-Smith and her daughter have a best-seller called "Baby
It's You", great stuff for the lay person.
(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

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

Recommended along with: Hirsh-Pasek/Golinkoff book "How Babies Talk.."
"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

Lise Eliot's "Early Intelligence"; Penguin Books,
1999.
Gary Marcus, The Birth of the Mind (Basic Books, January 2004),

'Touchpoints' by Berry Brazelton

Introduction to Infant Development,
edited by Alan Slater and Michael Lewis, Oxford University
Press, 2002.

Selma Freiberg's 'The Magic
Years' but it's psychoanalytic in it's theoretical
underpinnings (although it doesn't read so that the
lay person would even notice) and so I don't know if
that's everyone's cup of tea. It covers childhood
anxieties and problems from 0-5.

Kenn Apel and Julie Masterson,  Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences,
A Parent's Complete Guide to Language Development. It's published by Prima
(2001)

Happy Children by Rudolf Dreikurs, 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.

The Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy and Baby's First Year.
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.

"Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child" from
John Gottman for parents of children two years and up. The book draws
on Gottman's developmental work on children's friendships and peer
relationships and his clinical work with married and partnered adults.
The self-help style of the book can be a bit off-putting, but the
advice on teaching children how to handle emotions and negotiate social
relationships is terrific.

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's "Mother Nature," as a present
to scientifically-minded friends expecting a baby. Hrdy tells the
biological and anthropological story of mothers, focussing on humans
and non-human primates. It is more about mothers and fathers than about
infants, but it is a great read for anyone who wants to have a think
about the investment of parenting.

Conclusions?

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!)

Katie Alcock


Katie Alcock, DPhil
Lecturer
Department of Psychology
City University
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
Phone (+44) (0)20 7040 0167
Fax (+44) (0)20 7040 8581
Web http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/k.j.alcock

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