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In this book the author takes up the usual problems presented by the developing child but she does so in an unusual way. It is the latter which gives the book distinction. The discussions reflect
sound understanding of the psychology of human behavior plus a long experience in practical dealing with the problems of real children and the questions raised by real parents. One of the chief attributes of the book is the author's appreciation of the complexity of parent-child relationships and her awareness that much is still to be learned in regard to them. She knows that we do not 'know all the answers'. Those which she gives are stated simply and vividly. For example, 'Remember always that the goal is not "to get food in" but to foster whatever leads to pleasure in eating', or in speaking of the only child, 'Only means lonely'. Again, 'As is well known, a taste of power goes to the head of even the very young'. In discussing sex instruction she says, 'Children rarely want to know anything at all about the sex life of birds, bees and wild flowers. They are concerned with events within their immediate experience—with their own bodies, and with practices and experiences encountered in other children. These, then, are the places to begin. Comparative biology can wait.'
Some may say that the book will be of use to the parent who is well adjusted and who only needs clearer understanding of how to bring up his child soundly, but that it offers little to the parent who is neurotic. To some extent this is true. However, statements which would ordinarily be painful to the latter parent are made with such rare understanding that even some of the poorly adjusted parents will find the book of help.
The chapter on The Forgotten Father leaves something to be desired in the analysis of the underlying factors in the matriarchal trend in the United States. Also the description of the typical, busy modern father is more characteristic of the father in the commercial metrop