Smart Parenting, Smarter Kids: The One Brain Book You Need to Help Kids Grow Smarter, Healthier, and Happier

The focus of this book by psychologist Walsh (Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen) is "parenting with the brain in mind." In clear and accessible language, Walsh reports, interprets, and applies recent neuroscience research to help parents understand their kids' behavior and foster optimum development and use of their children's amazing brains. Throughout, there is an emphasis on science made practical, as Walsh expands the scope of his previous book to cover a wider range of brain-related behavioral issues from infancy through adolescence. Reminding parents that kids' brains really are "under construction," he shares anecdotes from his own family life and clinical experience as he addresses major topics such as IQ and other ways to evaluate learning capabilities; how the brain processes information; the importance of play; and why learning self-discipline is important. Each chapter includes checklists, tool kits, conversation starters, and a list of dos and don'ts, plus a fill-in-the-blank space for parents to plan steps toward change. Citing much of the same research reported in Ellen Galinsky's Mind in the Making (including the famous marshmallow experiment, about delayed gratification), Walsh has delivered another entertaining and highly elucidating useful volume for the 21st-century parent. (Aug.)