Customer Reviews

Understanding Children

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I thought this book was extremely easy to use and made information that is often dense and confusing very accessible. The unique format of the book provides quick bits of information without the technical jumble that often clutters other books on children and child development. I think this is a great gift for any expectant or new parent.

A must have for new parents. The information and colorful pages are great for those late nights and early mornings. This book has been very helpful to both my husband and me especially since it is not wordy and the pages are informative with great illustrations.

As a mother of a five and seven year old, I didn't feel like I had to run and buy a ton of baby books when I got pregnant with my third. Because of all the running around I do on a daily basis, I find it difficult to take the time and read a book on children and child development. When I saw Understanding Children, I soon realized it was the perfect book for me. I can quickly find the information I am looking for without having to read paragraph after paragraph of jargon and irrelevant information. I consistently use it as a reference when I'm not sure about an issue or simply when looking to learn more about my kids.

As an "experienced" parent of two, I already have a shelf of parenting books that read like college textbooks. What a treat to find this book! Understanding Children presents a great overview of so much information in such a unique way that I found myself learning things I thought I already knew. Presenting the content visually through graphs, charts, photos, diagrams and lists is refreshing, too. The practical information is also a big help, like the checklist for how to interview a child care provider, what to expect at wellness visits, etc. I highly recommend this book for any parent, grandparent, expecting parent, or caring aunt or uncle out there.

As a mother of three, one of whom is still a baby, and a pediatrician, I found this book quite insightful, and would recommend it to all.
Younger parents will find the information easily digestible, and more experienced ones will find better methods of child rearing than they were previously aware of. (I found myself picking up some new tidbits even after three children and a career taking care of others' kids.)
I think the author has done a good job in communicating new and important facts, but not in a fashion that is daunting or overly academic. All parents should be able to grasp its contents - something not often found in the genre.
As for my experience with others' opinions on the work, I have heard a number of glowing comments from the families reading the copies in my waiting room.

My wife is in her first trimester, and so we've recently been busy finding pregnancy and child-care guides. I'm glad we picked up a copy of Understanding Children, as it's been quite helpful. I'm a mechanical engineer by trade, so don't know too much about pregnancy and babies, and was pleased to find a lot of easily absorbable information in this book. What to expect at our first ultrasounds, what foods I should and should not order for my wife when we're out, and even suggestions on shopping for baby clothing - it's all in there. I've found the budgetary information particularly helpful as Molly and I are just starting out in life and can't break the bank quite yet.

There have been endless numbers of books written on childhood development to the point where some books contradict others. It is no wonder parents can become confused when it comes to sorting out what is good advice and what is not. This book does provide some very basic guidlines to follow when raising children, but the book truly does not give readers what the title implied, a thorough understanding of children. It is highly questionable if any book can do that, particularly one that is so brief with just over two hundred pages. The book was rather sketchy and lacked sufficient detail to be of tremendous benefit. On the positive side, what information the book did provide made for quick and interesting reading. As for understanding children, as both a parent and one who is a counsellor, I would have a difficult time recommending this book as an abundant source of worthwhile information.

This book is simply amazing. It's loaded with (usefull) facts and info with everything you need to know from 0-3. It's highly stylized and I understand why some people would call it a "coffee table book". It's drawn up in a way that you can learn any fact in seconds. No piece of writing ever goes beyond 3 sentences (the average is 2) but that's the beauty, it's free of "fluff" and "filler" material.

This book gives you hard facts on what you need to know, such as how much you'll spend in diapers,food,etc to percentages on what kinds of parents there are (percents of interracial couples, divorced, adopted, etc) and there is never a point where you'll feel overloaded with facts.

As a person who studios ease of use and intuitive designs I would put this book on a pillar. They make what would normally be extremely boring or useless info and repackage it in a way that makes you want to read it and takes out the useless crap often found in fact like books.

After skimming this book, I can say I would probably never need to read another book on baby finance, basic health, care, how to raise, baby phsycotherapy, etc.

This is a must have for any soon-to-be mother or father.

I love this book! With limited time for reading, I find the format so easy to use. I've gone to it again and again when looking for infromation regarding my young child. I don't think any new parent should be without this!

Pregnant with my first child, I've been awakened many a night by a rush of panic wondering, "How much of our hard-earned money will we spend on diapers each year?" I've also been awakened by my husband's fits of panic as he worries, "Will we know how to bathe this child?" This book is the perfect bedside companion for prospective parents like us. Organized into categories that make it easy to navigate, the Q&A format gets right to the point. And we get right back to sleep! A great reference for parents-to-be. I found this book far more comforting than tomes like What to Expect that many times instill more fear than anything.