Rating: 
Summary: Bad rap for parents
Review: According to this book, shyness is caused by "a combination of feelings of low self-worth, labeling, and shame."I sought the book out because I have a seven year-old child who has been shy since forever. She does not adjust well to new situations. I believed that she would eventually grow out of it, but she hasn't, and it's now affecting her schoolwork. I was looking for a book that would help and give some real answers. This book focuses on people who became shy because of poor parenting, or some in-school incident that would turn any normal kid into a raving wall-flower. I am not that kind of parent. I shouldn't have to defend myself. Someone told me (after I bought the book) that there is something akin to a high form of autism that manifests itself as shyness [aka Asperger's Syndrome]. This is an inborn thing, not learned. But it is not addressed or even briefly mentioned in this book. There are other nervous system disorders, including, but not limited to, Anxiety Disorder and Social Phobia, that looks a lot like mere shyness, but again, no mention here. Apparently it's all my fault. If your child is exhibiting signs of shyness, and you don't see any external reasons why, then by all means, save your money, don't buy the book, talk to your doctor. Great care should be taken to help a child who is suffering. Because mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders can affect the way the child grows up. If that means they need medication, coupled with talk therapy, then good grief, what are we waiting for? I really looked to this book for some help, but only found unfounded guilt.
Rating: 
Summary: It's an outstanding work.
Review: As a former shy child and currently somewhat shy adult, I found the shyness related issues Zimbardo and Radl write about extremely familiar. Their suggestions for how to transcend shyness and modify unhealthy behaviour (one's own and that of others) are refreshingly useful and practical. The one criticism I have is that issues of shyness for gay men and lesbian women are not addressed directly - but the book is so useful and direct in every other way that it should not be overlooked, even by those who aren't shy. It describes a world that too few find ways to immigrate from, and it tells you ways to cut through the red-tape.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, basic resource for helping shy children
Review: I found much of this book to be very helpful, with some great tips on helping the shy child. My child is on the very extreme end of being shy, with some SID to make matters worse. Even so, I thought this book had enough helpful items to make the purchase worthwhile. I'd also like to say something about another reviewer's comment that the book doesn't mention Asperger's Syndrome. This reviewer thought it was a serious ommission on the author's part not to mention AS. However, in the author's defense, I think it should be noted that this book was originally written in 1982, well before most people/professionals became aware that there even was such as thing as Aspgerger's Syndrome. That didn't happen until the 1990's, ten years after this book was written.
Rating:
Summary: No room for medical / psychiatric conditions
Review: I have already reviewed this book, and explained that there is only blame for the parents and important adults in the child's life for being shy. Many, many people have emailed me, requesting more information about what other explanations there could be, because their children are not shy due to their environment of happy loving families. So this is an update to my original review. The book does not mention any treatable organic causes for apparent shyness in children, including but not limited to anxiety disorder, social phobia, and Asperger's Syndrome. None of these issues are discussed at all. This is a serious and inexcusable omission. All of them are treatable and controllable by medication and therapy. It seriously angers me that this book does nothing to address these concerns.
Rating:
Summary: The Shy Child
Review: I read with interest the comments made by so-called "reviewers." I merely ordered the book in hopes of helping my sister-in-law to understand why her five-year-old granddaugter hides under the table rather than face or greet us when we visit. When she is finally coaxed by her grandparents to emerge, she exhibits inappropriate behavior -at least to us. I am searching for anything that may be helpful! I am highly incensed by some of the reviewers' remarks. Perhaps they did not take the time to read the jacket cover before purchase. It appears to me that the hostile/negative comments directed at the author are highly indicative of why he/she has a shy child: when is the child allowed to speak; and what form should it take so as not to offend/inflame the parent? Perhaps these parents are searching for the wrong books, and should examine their own priorities!
Rating:
Summary: Good, basic resource for helping shy children
Review: I thought this book provided a pretty simplistic view of shyness and its causes. It touched on medical theory and evidence, but didn't go into much detail. Some of the hypothetical examples given were a bit one-dimensional. The remedies were basic and not terribly creative. Still, there were a couple of good ideas, but it wasn't word reading through the whole book for them. Also, my child didn't really fit the archetypal profile that the authors outline, making the book less relevant or "custom fitted" for our particular child.
Rating: 
Summary: Servicable
Review: I thought this book provided a pretty simplistic view of shyness and its causes. It touched on medical theory and evidence, but didn't go into much detail. Some of the hypothetical examples given were a bit one-dimensional. The remedies were basic and not terribly creative. Still, there were a couple of good ideas, but it wasn't word reading through the whole book for them. Also, my child didn't really fit the archetypal profile that the authors outline, making the book less relevant or "custom fitted" for our particular child.
Rating:
Summary: Zimbardo's Shy Child is the ONLY book you need
Review: Professor Philip Zimbardo has done it again! His The Shy Child offers great ideas and insight into shyness and its origins. He analyzes the development and shyness and its effects on youth. It is a great tool for parents and anyone interested in discovering how shyness affets children. I can't imagine an easier to read book that is chock full of the details Zimbardo has placed in this one. I strongly encourage everyone to purchase this book and read it...you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Zimbardo's Shy Child is the ONLY book you need
Review: Professor Philip Zimbardo has done it again! His The Shy Child offers great ideas and insight into shyness and its origins. He analyzes the development and shyness and its effects on youth. It is a great tool for parents and anyone interested in discovering how shyness affets children. I can't imagine an easier to read book that is chock full of the details Zimbardo has placed in this one. I strongly encourage everyone to purchase this book and read it...you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Author is pleased The Shy Child is again available
Review: This fine reprinting (by Malor Books) rescues "The Shy Child" for the many readers who contacted me about its availabity after it was put out of print by a previous publisher (in a cost-cutting institutional move). This book follows up on my earlier popular work, "Shyness: What it is, What to do about it." Whereas the research foundation, exercises, and advice I gave there was based on young adults and those upward in age, this book completes the earlier parts of the life cycle, from college age down to preschoolers. The information and ideas in "The Shy Child" came from several years' worth of observations that I and my co-author, Shirley Radl, made in schools at every grade level, from preschool, elementary, middle, high, up to college, supplemented with interviews, research, and workshops with teachers, parents, and students. We try to convey in accessible prose what we have learned about the meaning of shyness in the lives of our children, and what ways the negative impact of shyness can be reduced, minimized, and overcome through a variety of wise strategies and simple tactics. But we propose further that new efforts be directed at preventing shyness from taking hold of the child's life, some of which involve awareness of how parents, teachers, and institutions contribute to the problem and what they can do differently to create prosocial alternatives that make every child a winner. The response of earlier readers has been very enthusiastic, some even reporting "miracle" changes in their shy children, as can be witnessed in the ABC-TV prize-winning video, "The Pain of Shyness." My current concern is the steadily increasing prevalence of shyness in our society over the past decade from a 40% level of those reporting themselves to be currently, dispositionally shy to over 50% now. I think the technology revolution is contributing to this epidemic of shyness by making young people more socially passive and by substituting virtual social reality for the indispensable learning and engagement that comes from real world face-to-face reality. Making people our number one priority is a first step in a new agenda for combating the insidious inroads that electronic technology is and will be having on our interpersonal relationships. I hope you enjoy what you will learn in "The Shy Child, share that knowledge with friends and relatives, and put into practice some of its recommendations. Phil Zimbardo, Professor of Psychology, Stanford University
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