Your Eight-Year-Old : : Lively and Outgoing

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less relevant than earlier books submitted by schriste on June 25, 2017, 8:06pm Despite being written over 30 years ago, I usually find this series of books to have something useful or interesting, something insightful about children of the particular age the book focuses on. For some reason, Your Eight-Year-Old didn't deliver. I wonder if it simply becomes more difficult as children get older to make big generalizations about their physical and emotional development, or if those generalizations seem to be less true when reading the book and thinking about an individual child.

For anyone who hasn't read this series, there are sections that hold up well over the years, and others that don't (especially the paragraphs on body type as supposedly related to personality characteristics). Some parenting concerns are the same a generation later, and there are parts of the books that are interesting to read from a historical standpoint. The authors' tone is more direct than most parenting advice I've seen in magazines, books or blogs today. They don't shy away from acknowledging the ambiguities of raising children. These women would not have worried about a Pinterest-worthy birthday party, and would have advised you not to either.

While I wouldn't suggest Your-Eight-Year-Old to anyone, I would still recommend the earlier books in this series for parents of younger children.