The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderland had such good reviews on Amazon that I was really excited to begin reading. I expected it to be scientific and intelligent based on it’s title. However, I was really disappointed once I started reading.
The book is filled with pretty pictures and LARGE magazine style text. The actual content could probably fill 20 pages of a regular book instead of the 288 found here. I felt like the book was pre-digested and distilled down to be idiot-proof. I could be wrong, but I would think anyone reading a book on the science of parenting, and interested in raising intelligent children would not need this elementary school style book.
Yes, this book does discuss some of the important psychological studies that have been done in the field of child development. However, the book assumes you couldn’t possibly understand how this crazy scientific process works, so it glazes over some of the most interesting studies and dumbs them down to the point of dullness.
Overall I much preferred both Einstein Never Used Flash Cards and What’s going on in There, which talk about these interesting studies in much more depth. I must give a disclosure though- I do have a scientific background and I am insanely interested in the details, so it’s possible that someone just wanting the big picture summary might actually enjoy this book.