Please Touch [Paperback]

Susan Striker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Not everyone will agree with Striker's liberal views on childrearing (especially in the area of discipline), but she argues convincingly that parents should encourage creativity and independence during their children's first four years. Striker, author of the successful Anti-Coloring Books, illustrates her approach by noting that when her son was born she decided: "I would not say 'no' to him until he was two." This refusal to interferewhenever possiblewith a child's exploration of his or her small universe underlies Striker's advice on such subjects as providing a stimulating home environment, planning excursions, making sure a child has playthings that require imagination, and encouraging experimentation with art, music and movement. The author also offers pointers on a variety of specific topics, from giving birthday parties to choosing a nursery school. An intelligently presented alternative to more traditional parenting books. Foreign rights: RLR Associates, N.Y. February
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this book the creator of the successful Anti-Coloring Book series attempts to cover the ways in which parents can encourage creativity in their children's preschool years. As a professional in art education, Striker is at her best in giving tips and reassurances about preschoolers' needs and preferences in art. She has done her homework, and quotes from other sources, such as the excellent Susan D. Shilcock and Peter A. Bergson's Open Connections: the other basics (Open Connections, 1980) and David Lewis's How To Be a Gifted Parent (Berkeley Bks., 1979). Though she rambles a bit and might have done better to exclude general child-rearing material, parents will find this a valuable source of ideas. Macmillan Book Club alternate. Allayne C. Heyduk, Riverside Sch., Oneonta, N.Y.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (April 18, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671496484
• ISBN-13: 978-0671496487
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Striker
[e-mail]

Susan Striker is the author of the best-selling Anti-Coloring Book® series with over one million books in print all over the world. Designed to stimulate creativity and encourage problem solving and critical thinking, the books help children draw their own pictures as well as their own conclusions about life. She also wrote Please Touch® (Simon & Schuster) which teaches parents and educators how to stimulate creativity through movement, music, art and play. Young at Art® (Henry Holt) is a comprehensive text about the value and significance of early childhood art. That book clearly demonstrates the important link between early scribbles and later literacy.

In 2008 Susan received the highly competitive 2008 Connecticut Art Education Association Award, Outstanding Elementary Art Educator, for significant contributions to the field of art education.

The author teaches elementary school art in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she won the Distinguished Teacher Award. She has had a long, successful career teaching art to young children, has taught art education methodology to university students and developed art curricula. She shares her innovative teaching ideas in workshops for parents and teachers in schools and universities all over the country. Ms. Striker's work has been the subject of numerous local, national and international television shows,. Susan's Young at Art® curriculum for preschool and kindergarten art was awarded Connecticut's Celebration of Excellence for Creativity in the Classroom and she was presented with Hofstra University's George M. Estabrook Award.

Photo: TalismanPhoto 2010

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful child-rearing advice, April 22, 2001

By 

Barbara J. Chaplin (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Please Touch (Paperback)

I loved this book. I read it when I was working as a nanny. It inspired me. The author believes that it is the primary role of a caregiver to stimulate the child's creativity. The book tells you how to do this. The chapters are arranged by age, starting from infancy. She gives advice about encouraging creative behavior through movement, music, art, language, etc. The baby I was taking care of at the time also loved the activities. Believe me, this book is worth the money.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book dramatically affected my parenting style!, January 23, 2009

By 

all love based paths lead to God "loveisthekey" (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Please Touch (Paperback)

I'm amazed at so few reviews...this book is in my top 5 fav parenting books. It just totally blew my mind! It's not just ideas for fostering creativity...no, it is so much more than that!

It's really about a mindset regarding our children.

For example, how many times have you seen a parent try to calm a fussy or rambunctious child by giving them their 'favorite toy?' What does the child do? Often, the child throws the toy aside, much to the parent's dismay!

Why? Why didn't the child eagerly grab the favorite toy?

Because the child has ALREADY EXPLORED that toy! The child is much more interested in the light switch, or the stereo, or tv remote control.

The child is inquisitive...always learning. Toys are educational to a young child. While parents may think of toys as just amusement, something to keep the child busy, they are totally missing the point. The child is interested in your new camera not to be obnoxious, because it is something NEW! Something to be EXPLORED!

This book totally blew my mind. After reading it, I understood why my baby delighted in turning the light switch on and off...why my toddler just HAD to go thru the childhood ritual of unrolling the entire tube of toilet tissue.

How many parents let their children unroll the toilet paper? It's a definite NO, right? And yet, these same parents spend so much on brain-dead toys for their children.

Guess what! My child only unrolled the toilet tissue about 3 times...for a total cost to me of, what, a dollar or so?

What an inexpensive way to stretch his mind!

That's just one example among many...I don't think the author is saying that you MUST let your child have free reign over your entire house...obviously you can't let him play with your expensive gadgets. But hey, why not save the OLD, broken camera and let him take it apart? Then he'll get it out of his system and maybe won't have the need to take your new camera apart (and you still need rules and discipline, and still need to keep stuff like that out of reach, of course). The point is in your thinking...to recognize what is driving your child's curiosity...the desire to learn about his environment.

AWESOME BOOK!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone who interacts with children!, June 18, 2011

By 

Mary C Morris - See all my reviews

This review is from: Please Touch (Paperback)

My children are now 24 and 19 and this book really helped me look at parenting from a different point of view. Sure some of the things Susan talks about are a bit out there...she herself admits this...but my children are both very creative and think outside the box naturally. Both of my children appreciate art because they were exposed to it at a young age: art calendar pages (at their eye level), their own Art Book (bought on sale and a great investment), mini trips to the Art Museum (on free days for 15 minutes) and so many more things to do and it was fun! My daughter is now pregnant with her first and I am getting her her own copy. My advice is to get the book. Use what works for you and forget the rest. It will be MORE than worth it!