What’s Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life is another book about brain development in children. It goes through all the 5 senses and how they develop from in utero through childhood. Then it goes into motor, social and language development, among other things. I have truly enjoyed reading this book. I have learned so many cool things that I would read aloud to my husband. Like how cool is it that spinning in an office chair with your baby in your lap helps their vestibular development?? Or that babies really love your breast milk after you eat garlic?? Or that babies can recognize their mother’s face among other female faces within hours of birth?? This baby development stuff is amazing.
The book is very detailed and refers to many clinical and psychological case studies. It does not gloss over issues or give you broad generalizations. Sometimes I felt like I was back in neurobiology or psychology classes. In fact some of the cases I remember learning in my classes. So if you are not into the science behind brain development, this book is not for you. But if you like to know the details and find yourself asking “why?” then you’ll love this book.
My husband keeps asking me “how many times are you going to read that book?” The truth is I’ve only read it twice, but I’ve read it much slower than I typically read books because I am so interested in it and I want to remember all these cool things. Now that I’ve read it twice I’m hitting myself in the head for not using a highlighter the second time. I kept thinking I was going to resell it, so didn’t use a highlighter. However, now I think this book will be a permantent part of my library (a merit few books attain).