Child Development

Books by Subject

Child Development

Reviews
Amazon.com
Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection should be required reading for anyone who happens to be a human being. In it, Hrdy reveals the motivations behind some of our most primal and hotly contested behavioral patterns--those concerning gender roles, mate choice, sex, reproduction, and parenting--and the ideas and institutions that have grown up around them. She unblinkingly examines and illuminates such difficult subjects as control of reproductive rights, infanticide, "mother love," and maternal ambition with its ever-contested companions: child care and the limits of maternal responsibility. Without ever denying personal accountability, she points out that many of the patterns of abuse and neglect that we see in cultures around the world (including, of course, our own) are neither unpredictable nor maladaptive in evolutionary terms. "Mother" Nature, as she points out, is not particularly concerned with what we call "morality." The philosophical and political implications of our own deeply-rooted behaviors are for us to determine--which can be done all the better with the kind of understanding gleaned from this exhaustive work.

Hrdy's passion for this material is evident, and she is deeply aware of the personal stake she has here as a woman, a mother, and a professional. This highly accomplished author relies on her own extensive research background as well as the works of others in multiple disciplines (anthropology, primatology, sociobiology, psychology, and even literature). Despite the exhaustive documentation given to her conclusions (as witness the 140-plus-page notes and bibliography sections), the book unfolds in an exceptionally lucid, readable, and often humorous manner. It is a truly compelling read, highly recommended. --Katherine Ferguson
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The Scientist in the Crib : What Early Learning Tells Us About the Mind
by Alison Gopnik, Andrew N. Meltzopf, and Patricia K. Kuhl

Paperback - 304 pages (December 26, 2000)
Harperperennial Library; ISBN: 0688177883 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.71 x 8.01 x 5.18
Other Editions: Hardcover

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A trio of nationally respected childhood-development scientists hailing from Berkeley and the University of Washington has authored The Scientist in the Crib to correct a disparity: while popular books about science speak to intelligent, perceptive adults who simply want to learn, books about babies typically just give advice, heavy on the how-to and light on the why. The authors write, "It's as if the only place you could read about evolution was in dog-breeding manuals, not in Stephen Jay Gould; as if, lacking Stephen Hawking's insights, the layman's knowledge of the cosmos was reduced to 'How to find the constellations.'"

The Scientist in the Crib changes that. Standing on the relatively recent achievements of the young field of cognitive science (pointing out that not so long ago, babies were considered only slightly animate vegetables--"carrots that could cry"), the authors succinctly and articulately sum up the state of what's now known about children's minds and how they learn. Using language that's both friendly and smart (and using equally accessible metaphors, everything from Scooby-Doo to The Third Man), The Scientist in the Crib explores how babies recognize and understand their fellow humans, interpret sensory input, absorb language, learn and devise theories, and take part in building their own brains.

Such science makes for great reading, but will likely prove even more useful to readers with a scientist in their own crib, acting as tonic to pseudoscientific how-to baby books that recommend everything "from flash cards, to Mozart tapes, to Better Baby Institutes." As the authors put it, "We want to understand children, not renovate them." --Paul Hughes --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Stranger in the Nest : Do Parents Really Shape Their Child's Personality, Intelligence, or Character?
by David B. Cohen

Hardcover - 312 pages (February 1999)
John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471319228 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.07 x 9.26 x 6.29
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 37,011

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Evolutionary Principles of Human Adolescence (Lives in Context)
by Glenn Weisfeld

Hardcover - 272 pages (September 1999)
Westview Press; ISBN: 0813333172 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.23 x 9.34 x 6.29
Other Editions: Paperback

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Adolescence
by Michael L. Jaffe

Paperback - 608 pages (February 1998)
John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471571903 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.05 x 9.31 x 7.56

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Adolescence
by Eastwood Atwater

Paperback - 607 pages 4th edition (January 1996)
Prentice Hall; ISBN: 0133669645 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.18 x 9.43 x 7.73

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Adolescence : Biological and Psychosocial Perspectives (Contributions in Psychology, No. 35)
by Benjamin B. Wolman

Hardcover (April 1998)
Greenwood Publishing Group; ISBN: 0313303118

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The Child's Discovery of the Mind (Developing Child Series)
by Janet Wilde Astington

Paperback - 224 pages (January 1994)
Harvard Univ Pr; ISBN: 0674116429 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.75 x 8.22 x 5.42

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Frames of Mind : The Theory of Multiple Intelligences/Tenth Anniversary Edition
by Howard Gardner

Paperback - 440 pages Reprint edition (March 1993)
Basic Books; ISBN: 0465025102 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.37 x 9.19 x 6.06
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 715
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Editorial Reviews
Synopsis
This outstanding resource offers an accurate reflection of Howard Gardner's "Theory of Multiple Intelligences"--and the knowledge to extend this theory to effective classroom practice. This book describes implications for pedagogy, team teaching, students strengths, curriculum, assessment, community involvement, and diverse classroom models.
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Growing Up With Language : How Children Learn to Talk
by Naomi W. Baron

Paperback Rep edition (September 1993)
Perseus Pr; ISBN: 020162480X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.75 x 9.24 x 6.11

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House of Cards : Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth
by Robyn M. Dawes & Peter

Paperback - 338 pages (January 1997)
Free Press; ISBN: 0684830914 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.93 x 9.24 x 6.13
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 43,952
Synopsis
Robin Dawes spares no one in this powerful critique of modern psychotherapeutic practice. As Dawes points out, we have all been swayed by the "pop psych" view of the world--believing, for example, that self-esteem is an essential precursor to being a productive human being, that events in one's childhood affect one's fate as an adult, and that "you have to love yourself before you can love another.".
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Human Ethology
by Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt

Hardcover (June 1989)
Aldine De Gruyter; ISBN: 0202020304
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 253,773

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Human Universals
by Donald E. Brown

Amazon.com Price: $24.50
Paperback - 220 pages Reprint edition (July 1991)
McGraw Hill Text; ISBN: 007008209X ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.64 x 9.02 x 5.96
Book Description
This book explores physical and behavioral characteristics that can be considered universal among all cultures, all people. It presents cases demonstrating universals, looks at the history of the study of universals, and presents an interesting study of a hypothetical tribe, The Universal People.
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It Takes a Village : And Other Lessons Children Teach Us
by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Paperback - 336 pages (November 1996)
Touchstone Books; ISBN: 0684825457 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.71 x 7.45 x 5.11
Book Description
For more than twenty-five years, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has made children her passion and her cause. Her long experience with children -- not only through her personal roles as mother, daughter, sister, and wife but also as advocate, legal expert, and public servant -- has strengthened her conviction that how children develop and what they need to succeed are inextricably entwined with the society in which they live and how well it sustains and supports its families and individuals. In other words, it takes a village to raise a child.

This book chronicles her quest -- both deeply personal and, in the truest sense, public -- to discover how we can make our society into the kind of village that enables children to grow into able, caring, resilient adults. It is time, Mrs. Clinton believes, to acknowledge that we have to make some changes for our children's sake. Advances in technology and the global economy along with other developments society have brought us much good, but they have also strained the fabric of family life, leaving us and our children poorer in many ways -- physically, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually.
She doesn't believe that we should, or can, turn back the clock to "the good old days." False nostalgia for "family values" is no solution. Nor is it useful to make an all-purpose bogeyman or savior of "government." But by looking honestly at the condition of our children, by understanding the wealth of new information research offers us about them, and, most important, by listening to the children themselves, we can begin a more fruitful discussion about their needs. And by sifting the past for clues to the structures that once bound us together, by looking with an open mind at what other countries and cultures do for their children that we do not, and by identifying places where our "village" is flourishing -- in families, schools, churches, businesses, civic organizations, even in cyberspace -- we can begin to create for our children the better tomorrow they deserve.
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Mother-Infant Bonding : A Scientific Fiction
by Diane E. Eyer

Paperback (August 1994)
Yale Univ Pr; ISBN: 0300060513 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.76 x 8.21 x 5.47
Book Description
Although recent research has discredited the idea that mothers and their infants must be physically close for up to a year after birth for "bonding" to take place, many pediatricians, nurses, and others still blame mothers` inability to "bond" for all manner of social and physical problems of their offspring. In this absorbing book, Diane E. Eyer traces the history of the bonding myth, explaining its persistent popularity and showing how it reflects a disturbing tendency in our society to accept "scientific" research without question-and without awareness that it can be distorted by professional agendas and public demands.
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Parents, Children, and Adolescents : Interactive Relationships and Development in Context (Haworth Marriage and the Family.)
by Anne-Marie Ambert

Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours.
Paperback (February 1997)
Haworth Pr; ISBN: 0789001810
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Play (Developing Child Series)
by Chatherine Garvey

Availability: This title usually ships within 2-3 days.

Paperback - 184 pages Enlarged edition (November 1990)
Harvard Univ Pr; ISBN: 0674673654 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.55 x 8.24 x 5.43

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Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America : Executive Summary

Amazon.com Price: $11.95

Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours.

Paperback (September 1994)
Amer Assn of Univ Women; ISBN: 1879922029
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The Sociology of Childhood (Sociology for a New Century)
by William A. Corsaro
Paperback (February 1997)
Pine Forge Press; ISBN: 0803990111
Availability: This title usually ships within 4-6 weeks. Please note that titles occasionally go out of print or publishers run out of stock. We will notify you within 2-3 weeks if we have trouble obtaining this title.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
PART ONE The Sociological Study of Childhood
1 Social Theories of Childhood
Sociology's Rediscovery of Childhood
Traditional Theories: Socialization
Children's Understanding of Conservation
of Mass
Interpretive Reproduction: Children
Collectively Participate in Society
Do Chips Have Blood on Them?
Summary
2 The Structure of Childhood and Children's
Interpretive Reproductions
Assumptions of the Structural Perspective
The New American Grandparent
Age and Gender in Hausa Society
Childhood, Children's Activities, and
Interpretive Reproduction in Peer Culture
Preschool Children's Secondary Adjustments to Teacher's Rules
Summary
PART TWO Children, Childhood, and Families in
Historical and Cultural Context
3 Historical Views of Childhood and Children
Philippe Aries's Centuries of Childhood
The Debate Regarding Grand Stage Theories
of the Family and Childhood
The New History of Childhood
The Newsies
Summary
4 Social Change, Families, and Children
Examining Changes in Families from the
Children's Perspective
Children's Everyday Lives in Families
Amy Sticks Up for Her Mom
The Effects of Recent Socioeconomic Changes
on Children and Childhood in Western Societies
The Effects of Recent Socioeconomic Changes
on Children and Childhood in Developing Societies
Summary
PART THREE Children's Cultures
5 Children's Peer Cultures and Interpretive Reproduction
Examining Peer Culture from Children's Perspective
Central Importance of Peer Culture in
Interpretive Reproduction
Children's Transition to Initial Peer
Cultures
Symbolic Aspects of Children's Cultures
Material Aspects of Children's Cultures
Summary
6 Sharing and Control in Initial Peer
Cultures
Central Themes in Children's Initial Peer
Cultures
Friendship, Sharing, and Social Participation
The Little Chairs Routine
Access Rituals in an American Preschool
Italian Children's Production of the
Cantilena in Discussione
Autonomy and Control in Peer Culture
The Walking Bucket
La Strega
Summary
7 Conflict and Differentiation in the
Initial Peer Culture
Conflict and Peer Relations
Social Differentiation in Initial Peer
Cultures
Summary
8 Preadolescent Peer Cultures
Peer Cultures in Preadolescence
Friendship Processes in Preadolescent Peer
Cultures
Autonomy and Identity in Preadolescent Peer
Cultures
Cradle of Love
Summary
PART FOUR Children, Social Problems, and the
Future of Childhood
9 Children as Social Problems
The Bogeyman Syndrome and the Power of Rhetoric
Blaming the Victim
Summary
10 The Social Problems of Children
Poverty and the Quality of Children's Lives
The Abraham Lincoln of Child Workers
Growing Up Fast: The Story of Nicholas
Changing Family Structures and Children's
Lives
Violence, Victimization, and the Loss Of
Childhood
Summary
11 The Future of Childhood
The Major Challenges
Some More Modest Proposals to Enrich
Children's Lives
Conclusion
References
Glossary/Index
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