There are lots of child development books on the market. But how do readers – especially parents – find practical answers they can trust? A Good Start in Life provides just that. We all want to do the best we can for our children. Nature has equipped us with an instinct to protect and nurture. Unfortunately, we have not been provided with universal rules of parenting. So we look to experts to fill that void. But there’s just so much information out there – and it often looks like half of it appears to be filled with contradictory advice while the other half is mired in scientific jargon that most parents have trouble deciphering. This is especially true of the data on the intricate workings of the developing brain. It’s a daunting task to figure out just what a parent should do. The key is to listen carefully to what science is telling us. Finally, we have sensible guides to interpret the information in straightforward and practical ways. Dr. Norbert Herschkowitz, a Swiss pediatrician and neuroscientist, and his wife, Elinore Chapman Herschkowitz, an American educator, have teamed up to write this warm, friendly book to guide parents through the formative years of their child’s life. With a specific focus on the brain, we follow the path of early childhood development from gestation to birth to six years old. Each chapter deals with a particular phase of development. We begin with “Life in the Womb – What Are You Doing In There?” and “Newborn – Here I am!” As parents add candles to the birthday cake, new chapters prepare them for what lies ahead. Best of all, each chapter is accompanied by a section called, “To Think About…” These sections address practical topics like good night rituals, testing limits, coping with conflict, reading books together, the value of piano lessons, evaluating day care options, and encouraging “why” questions. Although there are scores of books that deal with early childhood development, few – if any – so artfully combine solid, reliable science with logical, clear-cut information and advice. Parents need no longer worry about missing special “windows” of learning opportunity. They don’t have to deal with lingering doubts about the “right” way or the “best” way to bring up their child. They won’t be left with that niggling feeling that they just didn’t do something essential. With science – and the Herschkowitz’s – by their side, the process of bringing up baby just got a whole lot easier.

A Good Start in Life: Understanding Your Child's Brain and Behavior

Kagan, Jérôme

Herschkowitz, Elinore Chapman

Herschkowitz, Norbert, M.D.

Science & Math

Joseph Henry Press

The social and cognitive development of children is a complex yet crucial process for parents to understand, and though there are numerous books on child development, A Good Start in Life stands out from the rest as an acclaimed and important work on the connections between childhood brain and behavioral development. This new paperback edition, updated with the latest information and new material, offers parents and educators a rich and invaluable resource on how children learn to live in family and society from birth to age six. Norbert Herschkowitz, MD, and his wife Elinore Chapman Herschkowitz draw on their lifetime of experience in studying infants and children to explain how brain development shapes a child’s personality and behavior. Organizing their narrative by age, the authors examine a wide range of social development issues, from appropriate rule-setting to the development of key character elements in a child such as moral sensibility, temperament, language development, playing, aggression, impulse control, and empathy. Some of the most popular features of the hardcover edition are retained here, including the question-and-answer section that concludes each chapter with real questions posed by parents to Dr. Herschkowitz, as well as brain maps and charts that display milestones in the development of various skills. Additional new material addresses concerns about prematurely born babies and the issue of resilience in children. In today’s world, children grow up in an incredibly complex and highly sensory environment. A Good Start in Life offers a clear, concise, and richly detailed guide infused with warmth and encouragement that enables parents and educators to constructively stimulate and shape their children’s cognitive and social development. “A must read . . . a gift to all parents.”—Rosemarie T. Truglio, vice-president, Education and Research, Sesame Workshop “Do the first three years of life represent a critical period for all aspects of development? Are we the product of our genes or of our environment? Does early exposure to Mozart make for smarter babies? The answers to these and other pressing questions are skillfully and elegantly answered in this wonderful book, which I enthusiastically recommend.” —Charles A. Nelson, Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Child Psychology, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics, University of Minnesota “This delightfully written book . . . is not merely a how-to book, but a book about understanding how a child truly grows.” —Guy McKhann, MD, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

A Good Start in Life: Understanding Your Child's Brain and Behavior from Birth to Age 6

Herschkowitz MD, Norbert

Parenting & Relationships

Dana Press

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