Rating: 
Summary: So glad I found this book
Review: This book does an excellent job of analyzing the latest scientific data in a readable way. It also makes the assumption that people reading the book can think and encourages parents to draw their own conclusions about how best to translate this information into everyday practice. I have been frustrated with the "conventional wisdom" put forth by most pregnancy and early years development books, and was very pleased with Eliot's scientific, yet comprehensible, approach. I came away feeling significantly more informed. Also, because the topic of brain development is so broad, this book serves as a very good overall reference for prenatal and infant/toddler development.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother
Review: If you are looking for information about developmentally appropriate ways of thinking and expressing ideas and feelings, this is not the book for you. It may be factually correct but would be better for a student than for a parent or caregiver.
Rating:
Summary: BUY TWO SO YOU CAN SHARE THE SECOND ONE!
Review: This books gives detailed info to parents who want to understand why kids are the way they are, at a given age, and ways that they can help them to develop. The author shares her expertise in an information rich format, citing studies and evidence to back up the information she supplies. I wish that the book was better annotated to provide specific resources she cites, but that does not take away from the plethora of astounding facts found in this volume!
Rating:
Summary: An ounce of prevention...
Review: As a Pediatric Occupational Therapist and Infant Massage Instructor, I often have to explain the complexities of neurodevelopment to parents, educators, childcare providers and our elected officials. Ms. Eliot's book has taken the difficult task of putting the complex and intricate neuro-functions of our youngest assets together, and explains it in such a way that intrigues and enlightens the scientist and non-scientist alike. If there was ever a doubt as to the importance for Early Intervention and supporting our new parents through proactive public and private programs, this is one of the gems that can speak to ALL. It belongs on the bookshelves of parents, educators, childcare providers and anyone who makes decisions about the life of any child.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for parents and early childhood educators!
Review: As the parent of a child with mental retardation, I have read most books out there on child development and this is one of the best! Written with the parent (not the professional) in mind, the author takes a very complex subject and explains it in a understandable fashion. The book should be required for parents of children with special needs, teachers and day care providers and strongly recommended for ALL parents.
Rating:
Summary: for the thinking parent
Review: Technical without being boring, this is a great book for beginning parents or grandparents... and even for experienced ones. Anyone who is fascinated by how the mind develops and what you can do to help children advance in their mental development will enjoy this well written book. My only complaint is that this book would be a better reference if each chapter included a summary and checklist of what parents should do (there is so much information in the book that it is hard to take it all in and remember it).
Rating:
Summary: This book had information I could find nowhere else,
Review: and it clarified topics I had seen mentioned elsewhere, but inadequately presented. For instance, pre-natal stimulation is discussed very objectively, whereas other books geared towards parents with high expectations tend to exaggerate its affects. This is an unbiased book with a tremendous about of clearly presented, frequently quantified information.
Rating:
Summary: not your ordinary parenting book
Review: Dr. Eliot has taken what is arguably the most fascinating topic facing science, the working of the human brain and mind, and recast it in gripping, accessible terms. It is a formidable achievement. She presents the scientific side of her story with grace and ease, leavening the sometimes heavy vocabulary of neuroanatomy with anecdotes of her own and other people's parenting experience. The theme of the book is established early and elaborated as she explores the development of each of the senses and systems of the brain: human intelligence is the result of the interaction between a child's brain and her environment. Although the child at birth is already capable of amazing feats, from face recognition to simple arithmetic (and the experiments used to study these feats are dazzlingly clever), the child is mostly ready to learn. The learning process actually changes the physical brain, giving the child the powers that we consider human: from sight and taste through emotion and language. The book presents all this information and throws in plenty of useful, practical advice on how to parent your children and what impact you can realistically expect to have on your child.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book to understand early brain development
Review: Did you ever wonder how birth actually affects the brain? Why babies love being bounced? What infant amnesia is? This book answers so many of the questions the basic baby reference books did not. In fact, I found myself wishing I had read this even before I got pregnant! My copy is already dog-eared and highlighted, and I have recommended it to all my friends.
Rating:
Summary: What's Going on in There?
Review: A FANTASTIC, must read book for all parents. This book explains in extraordinary detail how your child's brain developes, and how the child's environment plays a critical role.
|
