Princeton University associate professor of neuroscience, Dr. Sam Wang, and Dr. Sandra Aamodt, former editor of the prestigious scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, have teamed up to write a second book Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College (Bloomsbury USA, 336pgs). Their new work studies the development of the young brain and offers suggestions to parents on fostering intellectual growth and self-control. Even from birth, children’s brains are functioning at a high level. “They really come equipped to learn about the world in a way that wasn’t appreciated until recently,” explains Dr. Aamodt in an interview with NPR. “It took scientists a long time to realize that their brains are doing some very complicated things.” Read more…

By Adam Mansbach
Akashic Books | 32pgs
Release Date: June 14, 2011

Summary:
First things first, though the picture book format and brightly colored illustrations scream children’s book, Adam Mansbach’s new book Go the F**k to Sleep is for adults only, as is evident by the title. Written for parents everywhere who have nearly been driven mad in the quest to get their sweet babies to sleep, the author voices the frustration that many moms and dads have secretly felt, with profane humor. Each spread features a rhyming verse accompanied by Ricardo Cortes’ sweet illustrations of blissfully sleeping children nestled cozily with animals. The first two line of each verse are the saccharine fare of many a bedtime story, but the last lines reveal the annoyed and angry thoughts of a parent pushed to the edge. As the story progresses, the narrator’s emotions move from impatience to fury to utter despair at being a failure as a parent. The foul language and ironic humor elicit laughs and sympathy from myriad parents who have been tortured by toddler bedtime rituals and have wished with all their heart that their little angels would just go the f**k to sleep. Read more…

The recent release of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, written by Yale law professor Amy Chua, has caused quite a stir with the media and a swath of American parents who have taken issue with her rigid approach to motherhood. Chua, who chose to raise her two daughters the Chinese way, expected nothing less than academic perfection from her children and banned participation in sleep overs, video games and school plays so that the girls could spend arduous hours practicing their musical instruments. There is no arguing this mother got results, her daughters, now 15 and 18, are straight A students and the oldest has performed at Carnegie Hall. Yet, Journalists and parents have criticized Chua for being cruel and unnecessarily strict, amid grumbles about calling social services. In interviews, Chua has explained that the book was supposed to be funny, she intended it to be a sort of satire of her experience with motherhood, and admits that was less of a slave-driver in real life. Somehow, knowing this does not make reading about her screaming rants at her children any less unpleasant for some. But that is here in the U.S., how are her methods viewed in China? Read more…

By Kelly Corrigan
Hyperion | 96pgs
Release Date: March 2, 2010

Addressing her children, Kelly Corrigan writes a tender, richly intimate missive on the challenges and joys of parenthood in her new book Lift. With humor and thoughtfulness, the author intertwines the real-life stories of three adults’ experiences with the peaks and pitfalls of raising children. The book title, taken from a hang gliding term, describes the technique in which a glider must fly deliberately into turbulent air, in order to avoid losing altitude. Corrigan chose this term to symbolize the challenging, sometimes rough and chaotic, ride of parenting. She highlights the complexity of this role with honesty and tenderness. Though parents may fall short in their duties at times, Lift serves as a reminder of the importance and rewards of child rearing.
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