Dr. Spock on Parenting: Sensible Advice from America's Most Trusted Child-Care Expert

Spock's Baby and Child Care has been a steady success for decades, and this new volume, although disappointing, will probably be a bestseller as well. Combining excerpts from his column in Redbook and original material, the guide presents Spock's views on how to achieve domestic tranquility and raise children to become physically fit, assured adults. Parents may wish for more directly applicable guidance, however, particularly on protecting the young from the dangers of modern times. The short section on child molesters and abductors, for example, is surprisingly simplistic, the advice a variation of ``just say no.'' There are chapters covering today's culture: the proliferating divorce rate, single parents, teenage pregnancies, failures in government, destructive competitiveness, lack of spiritual goals, etc. Spock provides interesting reading, if not always straight answers to tough questions. (August)