Book

DARTON. F. J. HARVEY. Children's Books in England.Third Edition, revised by Brian Alderson.Cambridge University Press, U.K. 1982. pp.xvi+398. £12.95.

F. J. Harvey Darton's now classic work, Children'sBooks in England, appeared in 1932, and in the secondedition in 1956 Kathleen Lines described the book as 'alandmark of some significance in the long story ofchildren's books in England'. Another landmark hasbeen reached in the fiftiethanniversary publication of thethird edition, edited by Brian Alderson and most hand­somely bound, illustrated and printed by the CambridgeUniversity Press. To chronicle the quantity of criticaland historical work on children's literature written be­tween 1932 and 1982 would necessitate at least acompanion volume to that of Harvey Darton, andthough much work of high quality has been produced inthe field - one thinks of Bettina Hiirlimann'sEuropiiische Kinderbiicher in drei Janrhunderten 2ndedn, (Zurich, 1963) and Percy Muir's EnglishChildren's Books 1600-1900 (London, 1954) - therecan be no doubt that Harvey Darton stands firm as anauthority. As Brian Alderson writes in his Preface,'Children's Books in England is unsupplantable, for it isrooted in an experience and a quality of mind that arebeyond the attainment of more recent generations'.

Sub-titled Five Centuries of Social Life, the workranges from the Fables and Romances of the MiddleAges through Fairy Tale and Nursery Rhyme to, theinfluence of Rousseau on Maria Edgeworth and ThomasDay, and beyond to the Moral Tale as exemplifiedespecially in Mrs. Sarah Trimmer, she who in her youthso impressed Dr. Johnson. The two chapters on theMoral Tale, The Moral Tale: Didactic and The MoralTale: Persuasive make particularly fascinating reading.Detailed and scholarly, they, like the tales, instruct bypleasing, a pleasure increased by the addition of somecharming illustrations, including a Kate Greenawaynursery interpretation of 'James and the Shoulder ofMutton', one of Adelaide O'Keeffe's contributions toOriginal Poems for In/ant Minds, 1804.

Always true to his sense of historical period, HarveyDarton sets children's books clearly in their time.Commenting on the work of Catherine Sinclair he findsthe contradictions apparent there to be paralleled in thenew attitudes and ideals current in the first twenty-fiveyears of Victoria's reign, and concludes his commentswith a fresh and vigorous approval of Catherine Sinclairin her humorous vein: 'Many of the nursery moralistshad known how to smile tolerantly ... But CatherineSinclair was the first to rollick'. One can trust a manwho writes with such conviction. One trusts him too forhis perceptive response to Huckleberry Finn: 'The figureof Huck Finn himself, simple, resourceful, clean,indomitable, makes any character of a 'manly' boy

Reviewsdrawn by lesser authors look like a stuffed dummy: evenTom Sawyer is only pretendiig to be alive alongsideHuck and Jim'.

The theme of Harvey Darton's book, that 'children'sbooks were always the scene of a battle betweeninstruction and amusement, between restraint and free­dom, between hesitant morality and spontaneoushappiness' is carried through to Tom Brown'sSchooldays, The Water Babies and Alice, and so toKipling, Barrie and R. L. Stevenson. Here HarveyDarton ends his book, but Brian Alderson hasadded an Appendix, Some Additional Notes onVictorian and Edwardian Times, true to the tone andintention of the original work, even to the inclusion of abrief book list at the end of the chapter. There are threeother Appendices, including a previously unpublishedarticle by Harvey Darton on Chatterbox. The Editor'sNotes are detailed and scholarly, though notoppressively so, and his corrections or emendations ofDarton's original text are unobtrusive and tactful. TheGeneral Book List includes such information as Salesand Exhibition Catalogues as well as a usefulbibliography of work on children's literature. The indexis excellent, obviously the result of painstaking labour.Interestingly the pagination differs little from that of the1952 edition, as the increased number of words to apage in the 1982 edition tends to be counterbalanced bythe increased number of illustrations, and this shouldprove useful to researchers wishing to make page re­ferences. Even if they had upset this happy parallel inthe two texts the illustrations must remain one of thegreatest joys in a totally delightful book.

Anne Taylor

Barn offamilie - forskning og debatt. Child and Family- Research and Discussions. Monografi Nr. 6,1980. Universitet i Oslo.

Ase Gruda Skard, former president of the NorwegianCommittee of OMEP, was for many years WorldPresident of OMEP. This compilation of articlesdedicated to her by former students who are nowcolleagues in the psychological field, was published bythe Norwegian Psychological Association. The sixteenarticles are all written in Norwegian, but the lists ofreferences at the end of each contain many in English,and will give clues to the content of each article.

The first article is written by Ase Gruda Skardherself, "Praise or reproof through 200 years", andforms a most interesting introduction to the otherarticles on early childhood education. These includeChildren without family, a report from the LoczyChildren's Home in Budapest, Hungary, by MargretheLandmark, a Norwegian psychologist who visited the

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Home in 1974 and 1978. She tells about the philosophybehind the Home, which was founded by Dr. EmmiPikler after the second World War. It is exciting to readabout these young children, all under three years of age,who develop a strong basic trust in this child-orienteredworld.

In Eye-brows and early psychological processes byAnne-Marie Duve we find that eye-brows have beenincluded in the analysis of the infant's emotional status.Motivation and learning, viewpoints on the educationalprocess by Gudrun Eckblad, is worthwhile mentioning.The author in this article has succeeded in combiningPiaget's theories with the use of Montessori materials ina very meaningful way.

In their article Thinking and Language Perception inthe transition between preschool and elementary school,Ragnar and Sigrid Rommeveits show in illustrativeexamples how children think, and how their perceptionof the message given in tasks differs between preschoolage and school age.

This is a most valuable book for educators who canread one of the Scandinavian languages, Danish,Swedish or Norwegian.

Lise Heber Ostlyngen

PICKARD. PHYLLIS. Has our child talent? PullenPublication, U.K. 1981. £2.00 or $5.00.

This little illustrated booklet should be available forparents at every post-natal clinic. Phyllis Pickard writeswith tolerance, humour, and the wisdom gained fromlong experience, and the sections dealing with stories,poetry, dancing and music are particularly good. "If intelling a story or poem we can maintain the distancebetween events and the children, then they 'can learn"."Watchful compassion" is a duty of story-telling, andover-anxiety reflected in a child's eyes can be dispelledby quieter telling. The importance of the trance state ofchildren listening to a story is underlined, and we can seethe destructive influence of television advertisements onthis concentration.

Well-illustrated by Peter Ripper, the booklet hassections on the importance of spontaneity in musicalappreciation, making puppets (with clear instructions),and brief descriptions of the importance of animals andplants in a child's life. It falters a little when describingartistic activities, probably due to the complexity of aprocess which does not easily render into words.

The booklet also has questions that are intended tostimulate the parents' imagination, to help them considerthe "why's" of childish activity rather than shout "stop"automatically at every new enterprise. Parents will becompelled to examine their own reactions, and while weare not told what to do when a child causes a misunder­standing or rows, we see the value of calm and lovingdiscussion. "Set a good pattern for clearing up disasters,and it can last a lifetime".

Cliodna Cussen

TOOlE. DORIS W. Independence Training for VisuallyHandicapped Children. Croom Helm, U.K. 1981.Pp. 104. £6.95.

The appearance of a new book on the education ofvisually handicapped children is always a welcome eventto those who work in this rather specialised field. Thisbook by Doris Tooze, however, the product of a life­time of experience, provides such a fund of clear,practical information and guidance that it deserves awider public than those who specialise in visual impair­ment. While the book is written primarily for parents ofvisually handicapped children and those who are directlyinvolved with their stimulation and mobility training, itprovides numerous insights into the needs of handi­capped or disabled children in general, and offers com­passionate and wise advice on how these needs may bemet within the family. By pinpointing with precision theareas of development in encounters with specialdifficulties, and by suggesting stragegies for overcomingthese, Mrs. Tooze must surely stimulate the imaginativereader who may be encountering analagous problemseither with normal children or with children of otherspecial categories.

The basic principle underlying this book is thatvisually handicapped children can and must be providedfrom the earliest days with the means to become sociallyacceptable, independent and fulfilled adults. As DorisTooze points out, the prospects for the visually handi­capped are better today than they have ever been,thanks to the development of electronic technology.However, technology alone does not transform adependent into an independent person. There are threevital factors for independence as the author sees it,namely orientation, mobility and daily living skills. Byorientation she means the ability to create a mentalpicture of the environment, and having achieved this, torelate it to one's own position and movements. This isvery difficult for the congentially blind person, andrequires the careful training of all the other senses:hearing, smell, the haptic and kinaesthetic senses, as wellas any residual vision, no matter how slight. An exampleof the use of hearing as a compensation for lost visualcues is the skill of "echo location" by which 'a blindperson uses the subtle changes of sound which' occurwhen his footsteps are taking him through a narrowpassageway or past a bus shelter or shop entrance.Mobility is the skill by which a visually handicappedperson travels through his environment with themaximum independence and safety. He may use any of.a number of aids for this purpose: the skilful 'use ofsighted guide; the long or short cane; a guide dog, or oneof the newly developed "sonic aids" which give awarning of approaching obstacles. Daily living skillsgovern how we conduct ourselves in our everyday lives,including personal hygiene, how we stand, walk and sit,how we eat, and especially how we interact with otherpeople. Without visual information, these skills can bedifficult to acquire spontaneously, and some of themmust be taught.

For those concerned with the early years of child

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development, perhaps of greatest interest in this book isthe author's treatment of how the visually impaired childbecomes aware of his environment. The normal sightedinfant can be relied upon to learn spontaneously throughactive exploration and discovery. The visually impairedinfant, however, is likely to require the active inter­vention of adults. Mrs. Tooze suggests that parentsshould blindfold themselves in order to learn how bestsound cues may be used in active exploration. Soundsmust be made meaningful to the blind child. Parentsshould give running commentaries at the pre-linguisticstage. If a baby is strapped to his mother as she movesabout the house at her work, he can learn in a naturalway what a normal child discovers by watching her. Sheshould verbalise her actions as she carries them out.Rhythm games and music will improve the child's move­ment, and will also help his listening skills.

In addition to learning how to listen, the blind childalso needs to learn awareness of his own body. A blindbaby has a special need for the loving handling by hisparents on which all infants thrive. Parents shouldengage in active play with their blind children, andshould, again, use names of body parts, left and right,and so on. The child's awareness of space can beenhanced by play in different parts of a room at differenttimes, and by drawing the child's attention to non-visualclues to location, such as the heat of a radiator or thesounds outside a window. Play on the floor is veryvaluable as a learning activity: the child can roll, crawl,or even turn somersaults with help.

Because balance is more difficult to achieve withoutsight, standing and walking alone usually take longer toacquire for a blind child. Sometimes, too, the con­genitally blind child acquires an awkward gait with hisbody tilted backward. Push-toys can be helpful incorrecting balance, as can walking along a low wall withthe help of an adult. The author next discusses socialcompetence and daily living skills. Many blind childrendevelop unsightly or distressing mannerisms such asrocking, "eye-poking" or hand waving. These becomeprogressively less acceptable as the child get older. Theyare engaged in sometimes for the relief of stress, andsometimes for the stimulation they provide. The childshould be provided with more acceptable outlets for therelief of stress, and alternative sources of satisfyingmotor stimulation.

Another area which needs attention is the posture ofthe visually impaired person. For example, the partiallysighted child must be taught not to eat with his nose inhis plate, not to read hunched over his books. Mrs.Tooze deals in detail with the teaching of independencein feeding and dressing, from the earliest days onwards.She also points out the importance to the child of thedevelopment of a discipline of orderliness, since it is onlyby knowing precisely where to find things that the childcan use them with complete independence.

Mrs. Tooze next deals with physical activities andgames. The visually impaired child, unlike his sightedpeers, needs to be taught movements such as jumping,thrusting forward, turning in a specific direction, movingat speed. These movements are essential for normal

living, but present many more hazards to the visuallyimpaired than to others. Within the controlledenvironment of the gymnasium, however, and with thehelp of apparatus, the visually impaired child can gainthe confidence to practice these movements in safety.The author also describes how to organise a number ofrunning games for infants, some ball games for juniorsand some more sophisticated leisure pursuits for olderchildren. She also describes the advantages of moderneducational dance.

The final two chapters of this book deal in particularwith the mobility training of the visually impaired.Mobility techniques originated in the United States afterthe Second World War for the benefit of war-blinded AirForce personnel. These techniques need to be modifiedfor the use of congenitally blind children, and presentedto them in a sequence which is appropriate to their ownindividual needs. Some of the techniques include trailingwith the back of one hand, which can be used along awall, for example; arm protection for high or lowobstacles; search techniques; and "squaring off","centering" and "living up", which involve accuratepositioning in relation to objects in the environment. Thechild also needs to learn how to make the most effectiveuse of a sighted guide.

The book concludes with the author's own syllabusfor the teaching of outdoor mobility, starting from thenegotiating of simple roads to the planning of complexroutes and the use of maps. As each new technique islearned, it must become incorporated into the child'sdaily living pattern.

One further attractive feature of this excellent book isthat it is illustrated with a large number of photographsshowing the children and their parents clearly enjoyingthe activities and exercises it describes.

Joan Delahunty

FREEMAN. R. D., CARBIN. D. F. and BOESE. R. J.Can't Your Child Hear? Croom Helm, U.K. 1981.Pp.340. £9.95.

"Can't Your Child Hear?" is, according to its authors,intended primarily for "parents of children whosehearing loss is severe or profound and occurred beforethe onset of normal speech". The book is not meant tobe applicable to "children known as hard-of-hearing orpartially-hearing" or "to those who lost their hearingafter speech developed". The authors also hope that pro­fessional workers will find it useful, whilst acknowledg­ing the difficulty of writing a book for both parents andprofessionals. On balance, this difficult task isaccomplished reasonably well, though it is likely that itwill be read more by professionals than by parents in Gt.Britain. It is a book that needs a close, careful reading,even though the twenty-two chapters are short and wellsummarised. The professional reader particularly willappreciate the sixteen pages of references.

The authors R. D. Freeman, a psychiatrist and Vice­President, Total Communication Children's Society; C.

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F. Carbin, deafened at four, Director of the Counsellingand Home Training Program for Deaf Children,Vancouver Children's Hospital, President of the TotalCommunication Children's Society; and R. J. Boese, aconsultant sociolinguist to the Counselling and HomeTraining Program for Deaf Children, whose parentswere deaf and users of American Sign Language, arewell placed to write a guide, the focus of which is "TotalCommunication as a way of life for deaf children, theirfamilies, their schools and their communities". Giventhis commitment, it will come as no surprise that theresource persons to whom chapters in first draft formwere sent for comment, are for the most part staunchsupporters of methods of communicating with deafchildren that encompass a manual component. Nor willit be unexpected that the oral vs, manual debateoccupies a significant part of the book, the authorsbelieving that this is a question which should not beignored, it being important for both "parents and profes­sional workers to have a basic understanding of theissues and assumptions involved in the dispute". Theyare highly critical of oralists (p. 152) whilst claiming toappreciate some of the (unstated) advances that havebeen made.

The basic standpoint of the book is that deafness is adifference to be accepted rather than a defect to becorrected. Allied to the concept of difference is theimportance and value of deaf culture, and the centralrole that sign language must play in that culture.

In spite of statements to the contrary this does resultin a rather negative attitude towards the use of residualhearing, spoken language and speech reading, beingtransmitted to the reader. This emerges from statementssuch as, "for a deaf child to benefit from amplification (IfthatII,In fact, pOlllble), it will take time and effort". (p.113, my emphasis). "For the degree of deafness we areconsidering in this book, improved responses throughaided hearing (when they come about at all) are likely tobe only slowly developed and ..." (p. 112, my'emphasis). Referring to the question of resistance bychildren to the wearing of hearing aids we read "parentswho believe that the use ofan aid is important, will haveto examine several elements ..." "Once identified the"costs" of solving the problem may need to be weighedagainst the benefits". (p. 112, my emphasis). Difficultiesrelated to the use of sign languages are treated muchmore positively. "At the present time relatively few deafpeople are native signers, but sign languages are the onlynaturally evolved languages that are capable of beingacquired by deaf children in early life in a way and a ratecomparable to the language acquisition of hearingchildren". (p. 129) "The belief that learning a signlanguage is dangerous is a myth; if you do not realizethis, you may become easily discouraged". (p. 129, myemphasis). However, the rather "slanted" manner inwhich these and related matters are treated does notprevent the standpoints of the advocates of Total Com­munication to be clearly presented.

The chapter on Sign Languages is very useful andbrings some clarity to a confused situation. The chapterson the more factual aspects of deafness, the causes,

diagnosis, the possibility of cure, and the chapter ondeaf children with other disabilities are straightforwardand comprehensive. The chapters on the programmesfor the educational management of deafness are morerelevant to the pattern in North America than else­where. However, British readers will be interested in theimportant place that the authors give to the SpecialSchool, and their obvious dislike of integrationprogrammes. They see the special school as a focus ofdeaf culture, which they seek to preserve and promote,and regard mainstreaming as a threat to this. 'If theoption to attend a special school is taken away in favourof mainstreaming and "improving" education, thedamage to deaf culture may take decades to reverse". (p198). An interesting contrast arises between this positionand that embodied in the Warnock Report and the 1981Education Act recently published in England.

Finally, one cannot but compare this book withanother intended for the parents of deaf children whichwas published at about the same time in the UnitedKingdom - "The Hearing-Impaired Child and theFamily", by M. Nolan and I. G. Tucker (Souvenir Press(E and A) Ltd., 1981). Whilst both books have theirstrengths and weaknesses, the excellent book by Nolanand Tucker is more practical, down-to-earth, morerelevant to the British scene and more likely to be read byparents, particularly those of young deaf children. Thebook under review is mor challenging intellectually andmore likely to appeal to the professional.

C. A. Powell

GILHAM. BILL & PLUNKETI, KIM, Child Psychology;Hodder & Stoughton; U.K. 1982. Pp. 135. £1.95.

Child Psychology, subtitled 'The Child to Five Years' isa book in the 'Teach Yourself series. As such, it setsout to provide a clear and non-technical account of childdevelopment, and in this it succeeds admirably. Theideas discussed and research studies quoted are up to theminute, with references at the end of each chapter. Thetopics covered include a chapter on influences ondevelopment which predate conception, through thechild's growing ability to move and talk, \0 sexdifferences and thoughts on preschool education.

The book is written by two child psychologists whoare also lecturers, and as such is an ideal one for parentsor indeed for teenagers or anyone planning to have afamily. It brings the often technical and abstruse topicsand language of research psychology within the reach ofpeople without professional training, without losing theflavour of the complexity and fascination of childdevelopment. It is informative, inquisitive and I am surewill leave many readers wanting to follow up itsreferences and learn more about children.

Anne O'Connell

BOOK REVIEWS 95

SELFE. loRNA. AND STOW, LYNN. Children withHandicaps: Hodder & Stoughton; U.K. 1981. Pp.247. £1.95.

"Children with Handicaps" is a book in the series"Teach Yourself'. Both authors have wide experiencewith children who have handicaps and difficulties ofvarious kinds. The book is ambitious, with chapterscovering physical handicaps and disorders, intellectualdifficulties, language problems and emotionaldisturbance, among other topics. It has a large referencesection, which includes practical books and programmes,and some voluntary organisations involved with handi­capped children.

The authors take as their central theme 'specialchildren', as defined in the 1978 'Warnock Report'which suggests that about 20% of children will needsome help during school years. These children aredefined not in terms of their handicap but in terms oftheir educational needs. The authors hope to 'set thescore' for these children, by looking at the nature andcauses of their handicaps, though each chapter does giveideas for positive action and their future needs. Theyreflect current thinking on the issues involved and lookat those issues from a variety of perspectives. Aperspective which is highlighted in this book is thatadverse social factors can complicate or cause in them­selves difficulties for children. Elements of thematurational approach, the psychoanalytic approach,cognitive theory, behavioural ideas and the inter­actionist approach are discussed in relation to each typeof handicap. The book ends with a chapter on 'Trends',and this looks at how the health, social and educationalservices have altered the incidence and definition ofhandicaps in recent years. The Warnock Report'srecommendations are set out and supported fully ­integration of handicapped children with non-handi­capped, creation of a flexible educational system,teacher, and other staff training and reserach arestressed.

In conclusion, this book is readable, informative anddraws on the recent findings of private research andpublic reports to present a sympathetic and hopefulpicture of children with handicaps.

Anne O'Connell

MORGENSTERN. FRANZ. Teaching Plans for Handi­capped Children. Methuen, England. 1982. Pp. 196.£7.50.

CURTIS. AUDREY. AND BLATCHFORD, PETER. Meetingthe Needs of Socially Handicapped Children: TheBackground to my World. NFER Publishing Co.,England. 1982. Pp. 128. £6.95.

The word handicap is apparently derived from thesaying: 'hand-in-cap' which was used in an old lottery

game when drawing from a cap. All participants startedwith equal chances but some had to endure specialdisadvantages or impediments. This simple philosophyof handicap is at the heart of both these books. They seethe role of the educator (in the widest sense) as removinghandicaps which fate has dealt some of our children. Assuch they are books of hope and challenge.

At first glance though, they make strange bed-fellows.Morgenstern - a consultant psychiatrist - focuses onmentally, physically and emotionally disabled childrenand maps a broad model of an approach to teaching. Hedraws heavily on European theorists and his style istowards the philosophical and reflective.

By contrast, Curtis and Blatchford are educationalresearchers and their book is mainly a report on theevaluation of the My World Handbook (Published byN.F.E.R.) This was a curriculum innovation project runin selected nursery schools in England with sociallyhandicapped infants. This will be a new term to manyand indeed, the authors admit difficulty in defining itprecisely. Nonetheless, teachers recognised it in childrenfrom low income families; those living in substandard orhigh-rise housing; one-parent families and fathersexperiencing long-term unemployment. The project'sinfluenceswere largely American and the book is writtenin a readable scientific style.

The contrasts between the books are soon masked bya remarkable congruity in attitudes, approaches andambitions. Both stress the need to respect children'sindividuality; to foster their autonomy and to syste­matically plan for their needs. That is a hard lessonwhich our educational system has yet to learn.Secondly, both eschew the 'cook-book' approach toteaching programmes. Morgenstern sees his book as "aguide to help resolve uncertainty when progress hascome to a halt and to indicate how to plan the next stageof teaching" (p. 186). Thirdly, both recognise the uniqueand irreplaceable role which teachers have to play.Curtis and Blatchford note the futility of making curric­ulum innovations 'teacher-proof, i.e. programmesshould not attempt to replace what preschools do asshould not attempt to replace what preschools do asmuch as incorporate something into what they alreadydo" (p. 98).

Of course, neither book is perfect. I do not agree withMorgenstern's views on free play nor with the jacketblurb that "it is essential reading for ... parents". It isheavy reading and would have benefitted enormouslyfrom the services of a good graphic designer.

I feel Curtis and Blatchford over-analyse their dataand try to draw general conclusions from what theyadmit was an unrepresentative sample. They tend todegrade teachers' opinions within their evaluation (it isreferred to as 'soft') whereas it is a vital part incurriculum development.

However areas of agreement far outweigh these minordisputes. If the ambitions of the authors are realised inour nurseries and schools then indeed the lots of somechildren will be less handicapping than they are today.

Roy McConkey

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CROW. GARY A. The Nurturing Family: Back-ta-BasicsParenting. Celestial Arts, California. 1980. pp. 220.$7.95.

This book is not an 'academic' publication; it does notprovide summaries of any theories of child developmentor parent-child relationships. The reaction of mostreaders would be that what the author is saying is simplycommonsense. This is precisely what Gary Crow isattempting to do. He is writing with the intention ofhelping all parenting adults (both parents and othersresponsible for children) to assist children to become'effective, successful, content adults' themselves andstates 'What better way to assure this than to draw onthe accumulated wisdom and to use our common senseas did our parents?' This focus is no bad thing, for ourintuitive feelings about children's development and be­haviour can certainly become lost or weakened underthe onslaught of theory at times.

After an initial overview of parenting issues, (ChapterI), the book is divided into six areas covering thephysical, emotional, moral and spiritual, social, sexual,and intellectual aspects of children's development.Within each area, development from birth to adolesenceis covered. The fact that this book deals with children ofall ages should not make the book less relevant to thoseprimarily interested in early childhood because it is inthe early years that the basis of good parenting andfruitful parent-child relationships is established and along-term perspective is crucial. Each chapter alsoincludes a brief, but valuable, discussion of handicap inthe aspect of development under discussion.

Chapter 2, 'Growing and Doing' covers a variety oftopics which fall under the heading of physical develop­ment, including language development and toilet trainingand problem areas such as eating habits and how to geta child to stay in bed. Chapter 3 'Being and Feeling'turns to an examination of the emotions and I found thissection the most valuable. This section contains a verygood discussion of how children learn to be afraid, ofnightmares and anger, making a useful distinction be­tween the experience of and the expression of anger.

. The next chapter, 'Moral and Spiritual Growth', dealswith the development of conscience and learning aboutreligion, and focuses on how children come to knowwhat are 'acceptable' behaviours, morals, beliefs andvalues. Chapter 5 'Friends and Relationships' looks atthe child's social world-making friends, getting on withteachers at school and how the parenting adult mayinfluence the child's choice of friends and playmates.Chapter 6, 'Sexuality', discusses the issues of sexualcuriosity, sexual development (both heterosexual andhomosexual) and the responsibility of parents inproviding accurate information within a supportiveenvironment. The last chapter 'Thinking and Knowing'covers intellectual development, learning throughobservation and imitation, helping children to thinkindependently, and includes a useful section on the valueof make-believe, using the examples of Santa Claus andthe Tooth Fairy.

Throughout all these sections, there is an emphasis onhow to foster growth within a nurturing environment

and on how the parenting adult can best set the'boundaries and limits' on behaviour without stultifyingthe child's curiosity. The author is concerned to showparents how to achieve the right balance between'overdoing and underdoing, over-responding and under­responding. interfering too much and not enough' in allthe areas of the child's development.

Attempting to cover the whole 'multi-dimensionalityof life' in one short book was an ambitious project, butaccomplished fairly successfully. The author's concernto show the inter-relationship between the variousdimensions means that at times the text becomes some­what repetitive. In some ways, too much is covered, andin consequence, this results in too little depth. It is alsopossible that, to a non-North American reader, some ofthe Americanisms may grate a bit (e.g, grade schooler,slumber parties) and some of the organisationsmentioned (e.g. FFA, Little League) will be unfamiliar.On a more positive note, I was pleased to find the authorreferring to children as both 'she' and 'he' - books toooften assume that children are only of the male sex.

My main criticism of this book is that, although itclaims to be appropriate to all types of family, allclasses and all sub-cultures, it nonetheless assumes oneparticular type of family, class and culture as its focalpoint - a North American, white, middle class, liberal­democratic, wealthy, two parent family. To provide thenurturing and stimulating environment recommendedpresupposes a certain level of material aflIuence, and,furthermore, a great deal of time and patience. I suspectthat, for many parents, the picture of family lifepresented in this book may not be at all relevant or evenrecognisable. What do you do if you haven't got a largeenough house to provide privacy or space for doinghomework, or the money to pay for extra-curricularlessons, or the same language with which to com­municate with the schoolteacher? How do you find thetime to drive your child to out- of- school activities(assuming you have a car) when you are working your­self to earn the money to purchase basic essentials? Ifyou are a member of an ethnic minority group, will yourview of 'acceptable' beliefs and values correspond withthose discussed in the book? Thus although the bookprovides an insight into child development and theresponsibilities of parenting and gives much practicaladvice from a welcome 'commonsense' perspective, and,as such, is a useful contribution, I feel its overall value islimited. Whilst the book rightly stresses the 'multi­dimensionality' of the child's world, it tends to ignore the'multi-dimensionality' of contemporary Western society.

Anne Batten

BRIERLEY. JOII:--l. The Growing Brain: Childhood'sCrucial Years. NFER Publishing Co., England.1976.

BRIERLEY. JOliN. Children's Well-being: Growth,Development and Learning from Conception toAdolescence'.NFER Publishing Co., England. 1980.Pp. 171. £6.75.

The Growing Brain, the first of these companion

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volumes, is an expanded version of an article whichoriginally appeared in 1973. While, as the author pointsout, we have as yet no clear theoretical structure and nofirm knowledge about the brain's working, there aremany bits of research waiting to be brought together.This book is an attempt to co-ordinate some, at least, ofthat research is a way which will be useful to parentsand educators.

As a parent, former teacher and Inspector of Schools,Dr. Brierley has some favourite themes which he feelsneed to be stressed and which he emphasises mostpersuasively. These include the need of the child forstimulation from the moment of birth, and forexperiences to 'fill the uncommitted areas of the brain'and serve as a basis for future experiences; the need forawareness among parents and educators of factorswhich may help or hinder development, including suchelements as nutrition before and especially after birthand during the first two years of life which can havelasting effects on the brain. The urgency of these factorsis underlined by the known fact that the brain hasreached 90% of its adult weight by the time the child isaged five years, and that half the final intellectual growthhas also been achieved by this age during the periodwhen the brain is at its most plastic and open to absorbnew experiences. Another reiterated theme stems fromthis one - that equal treatment for all is not necessarilyfair treatment for all. Being unique genetically, says Dr.Brierley, each individual would really need a uniqueenvironment in order to make the most of him or her­self; individual differences may be ascribed to manycauses so the best we can aim for is to treat eachindividual as well as possible so that he or she has everychance to maximise the potential which is innate. Thisincludes the active encouragement of language andcommunication skills from the beginning.

A section of particular interest perhaps, is that ongirls and boys where some consideration is given to thetheory that nerve development in right and lefthemispheres may develop at diflTerent rates in the twosexes. The consequences of this for stimulation and forthe notion of differing 'critical periods' have yet to beexplored. The question of 'critical periods' is givencautious treatment in line with recent findings on theeffects or possible non-effects of early deprivation. Theauthor reminds us however that it is impossible to knowjust how far an individual might have gone if conditionshad been right from the beginning, given thatcompensatory efforts have resulted in someone havingaverage or normal ratings.

Dr. Brierley is also sensitive to the emotional side ofdevelopment and the part played by parents, caretakersand educators and this is refreshing in a book whichcould easily have been dry and scientific. He drawsattention to the effects of emotional development onother aspects of growth - an area which has recentlybeen attracting more scientific rexearch and of which weshall no doubt hear more.

Although some of the chapters are a bit short, andeven slightly scrappy (e.g, the chapter on screeningbefore birth) this book makes a readable introduction to

the study of the growth of the brain in young children.Children's Well-Being includes much of the Same

information, some of it extended in the light ofsubsequent knowledge, and set in the much widercontext of general growth, development and learning upto adolescence. The inclusion of some statistics onhealth and social factors adds greatly to the interest. Welearn for example that in 1833 working boys aged 10years were on average 121 em in height compared with140 ern today, and that in 1903, of 25 milks examinedin Finsbury, 32% contained pus and 40% containeddirt. Improvements in sanitation and nutrition during theearly part of the century are underlined and areas whereimprovement could still be made, such as perinatalmortality, are pointed out.

Two chapters not normally included in develop­mental textbooks give food for thought - those on theeffects of adversity on the development of the brain, andon accidents; while a section on factors affecting thequality of mothering is worthy of attention by all thoseinvolved with the upbringing of children. The chapter onscreening before birth is an improved verson of that inThe Growing Brain, while still rather short.

The book is easy to read in one sense because of thesequence of fact, quotations, anecdotes, speculations,but the various chapters cling together somewhatuneasily and the sequence makes it difficult to follow asingle theme through the whole. A section on reading forexample is included in the chapter on 'The Brain' andthis is followed by a chapter on 'The maturation of theBrain'. There is a certain amount of 'skipping about'which would make this book difficult to use for referencepurposes. Some intriguing questions are raised (perhapsthey have already been answered); for example thesection on the birth weight of infants where no mentionis made of the possible influence of the father on thismeasure.

This book is perhaps best seen as an introduction tomany issues which will undboutedly stimulate the readerto go to more detailed texts which treat the varioustopics with greater depth.

Jean Whyte

BISSEX. GLENDA L. Gnys at Wrk: a child learns to readand write. Harvard University Press, U.S.A. 1980.Pp. 223.

The title of this book had its origin in a sign posted bythe author's son Paul above his table when he was fiveyears old. The 'work' from which this 'genius' did notwish to be disturbed was voluntary. He was engaged inpractising writing and reading for the joy and fun of it.What follows is a painstaking account of Paul'sattempts to communicate through print. A memorableearly message at about the same age, calculated toattract the attention of his mother who was relaxing witha book was the stark 'R UDF?' - it worked!

There are three main sections to the book and theydeal with writing, reading, and writing and reading after

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the age of ten. Chapters within each section are devotedin turn to Paul's progress, to comparison with otherchildren described in the research literature, to educ­ational implications and to a summary of what has beenreported.

Paul started wanting to write before he could read,but we must remember that this was in America, and atthe age of five, he apparently had not yet made a start atlearning to read. Once allowed to do so he forged ahead,and found that reading helped his writing, according tothe author. Her main interest initially lay in observingthe development of the understanding of orthographicprinciples, and then in the development of different kindsof writing (not penmanship). But she uncovered otheraspects worth pursuing such as the flexibility and changein learning strategies which occurred over the periodfrom age five to age eleven.

While the chapters about Paul's achievements arepacked with detail and will be of interest to peopleworking with children of similar ages in teaching,remedial or therapeutic situations, the summarychapters which attempt to place the rest in perspectivewill be of most interest to the student of languagedevelopment or of child psychology.

Jean Whyte

LASK. J.& LASK. B. Child Psychiatry and Social Work.Tavistock Publications, England. 1981. Pp. 209.Paperback £4.50.

This is one of a new series of books from the TavistockLibrary of Social Work Practice which caters forpractitioners and students of Social Work and also forthose who work in allied fields of health, education andother public services. The book is a collaborative effortof a consultant psychiatrist and a social worker and isfirmly rooted in practice issues.

The book is intended as a broad introduction to theassessment and management of child focused problems.It is divided into eleven chapters of various lengths,some not more than three or four pages dealing withvast subjects such as causation and a description ofcommon presenting problems. Most of the contentsfocus on a wide variety of intervention techniques suchas' Marital and Family Therapy, Individual Casework,Counselling, psychotherapy, Group Work, GroupTherapy, behaviour modification consultation, liaisonand medication. Most chapters include a caseillustration.

The authors' orientation is firmly based on a familyapproach with special emphasis on the complex inter­action between the child, his family and theenvironment. They describe child focused problems onlyup to adolescence, deliberately excluding problemsspecific to the older adolescent and also to children withphysical or mental handicap.

In order to help the social worker understand labelsshe is likely to encounter in the course of her work alarge section is devoted to diagnostic categories relyingheavily on Rutter's multi-axial classification, which itselfis unsatisfactory particularly in Axis Five which

concerns psychosocial situations. Under each categorythere is a brief discussion on management but whateverthe presenting problem the primary focus for inter­vention according to the authors should be the family.

There is a very useful distinction made betweenFamily Therapy and Family Casework. The authorsoutline the basic principles underlying the theory andpractice of family therapy, they describe their ownapproach and discuss the techniques they find useful.Group work and group therapy are given only very briefmention compared to other forms of intervention andyet this method is now used by many social workersparticularly with parents.

Emphasis is given throughout the book to the socialand environmental factors which affect the child and hisfamily. The authors' approach is a broad one and isapplicable to all agencies concerned with the care ofchildren.

It is debatable whether or not the book achieves theobjective set out in the editor's foreword, namely tocontribute to the search for a distinctive knowledge baseof social work. However there is enough helpful intr­ductory material from social psychology, child develop­ment and psychiatry to make it a worthwhile purchasefor social workers and child care personnel.

Maura Wall Murphy

JERNBERG, ANN M. Theraplay - A new treatment usingstructured play for problem children and their families.Jossey-Bass, 1980. Pp. 466. £12.50.

Ann Jernberg says in the preface to her book that"although many have benefited from Theraplay, littlehas been written about it". This statement aptlydescribes my experience of the therapy, developed byJernberg at the Chicago Theraplay Institute, up to thetime of reading her book. In 1978 I worked in an Irishpreschool with a Chicago-trained speech therapist. Shewas using Theraplay with one of the preschoolers whohad marked difficulty in communication and socialrelations. All I gleaned about Theraplay at that time wasthat it involved a lot of rowdy physical play marked byfrequent admonitions by the therapist to "look at me".The short weekly sessions were hugely enjoyed by thechild and they provided a happy relief from the grimisolation of his social handicap and painstakingly slowprogress in mastering verbal communication. But on theother hand, Theraplay did not appear to lead to anydramatic improvement in his communication deficits.

Having read Jernberg's excellent book, I now see thatthe Chicago therapist was working to replicate a healthyparent/infant relationship, in providing physical playwhich "nurtures, intrudes, challenges and structures". Itis also clear from the book that theraplay is designed toachieve its effect within eight half-hour sessions, and thatthe goal is not elimination of acute or long-standinghandicap but rather an adjustment in the child'semotional equilibrium. In some cases this may be all thatis required, e.g. for a behaviour-disordered child whohas failed to respond to special education or behaviour

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modification programmes. It is also possible for thechild's parents to observe the eight theraplay sessions,and participate in the last four, to extend the techniquesto the home (family theraplay!)

Jernberg was born in Germany and her book isrefreshingly European in style. It avoids the commonAmerican habit of hanging every theoretical or clinicalstatement on a published research study, and insteadproceeds to a clear and detailed account of the Thera­play process. As a therapy manual it is excellent value,with four of its thirteen chapters devoted to descriptionsof techniques and illustrated by two series of ingeniousdrawings. Five separate chapters describe the use ofTheraplay with the under-and over-active, the handi­capped, autistics, adolescents and adults. The last­mentioned chapter contains perhaps the most novelapplication of this novel therapy. It describes howschizophrenics, child-abusers and adults too "frozen"for talking psychotherapy, are cuddled and fed, nursedand bathed, with evidently as much enjoyment as anypreschooler.

A high standard of professionalism is evidentthroughout the book, with attention given to selection(and exclusion) of clients, structuring of sessions, care­ful specification of what constitutes nurturing, intruding,challenging and structuring, which form of play to usewith which type of problem, and a well balanced dis­cussion of the pitfalls of introducing a new therapy intoexisting service agencies.

The book and the Theraplay techniques it describesare weak on theoretical rationale, relying on ahypothesised Reizschutz, or sensitivity to stimulation,which is over or under-active in different syndromes.This theoretical formulation accommodates suchconflicting possibilitiesas that autism is caused either bya low or a high Reizschutz which leads the child tothrow up perceptual barriers against excess stimulation.

The theory has difficulty encompassing effectiveTheraplay techniques such as checking (height, weight,number of fingers and toes, etc.) or the mirroring usedwith autistics.

Another weak point of the book is the absence of achapter on outcome studies of Theraplay. Jernbergrefers to the fact that at the time of writing Theraplayhad been used with over 3,000 cases. The numerouscase studies mentioned in the text certainly testify tosuccessful outcome. Nevertheless, non-Americanreaders making their first acquaintance with Theraplayvia Jernberg's book, and considering whether or not toincorporate it into their clinical repertoire, will certainlyhave questions about its effectiveness when routinelyapplied in the field.

Susan Willoughby

SIGEL. I. E., BRODINSKY. D. M. & GoLiNKOFF. R. M.(Eds.) New Directions in Piagetian Theory and Practice.Laurence Erlbaum Associates, England. 1981. Pp. 377.£16.95.

This publication makes available a number of paperspresented at two symposia sponsored by a society called

apparently and appropriately the Piaget Society. Theaims of the editors and those of the symposia organisersare not, however, to preserve intact the works of themaster, but rather like all good disciples to create theopportunity for discussion of what the editors refer tosignificantly as the Piagetian perspective rather thanPiagetean theory. The book is divided into four sections:(I) epistemology; (ii) theory; (iii) application and (iv)mechanisms of learning.

In the first of these, viz epistemology, where theproblem to be discussed is "how the generic humanbeing acquires knowledge, not the ways in whichknowledgeis acquired by individuals" (p, 13), the contri­butors take up a position between the epistemolologicalpoles of constructivism (organism activity) and be­haviourism (environmental activity). In this sectionSmock sets out in lucid fashion the Piagetian position onthis dimension, as well as the internal patterning andrelationship of Piaget's central constructs. The secondset of articles on theory comes to grips with thedefinitions and claims within Piagetian theory, and mostinterestingly and productively how this theoryarticulates or fails to articulate with contemporary non­Piagetian studies of child development. The process ofassimilation of new developmental theory is here seen tobe well under way and accommodation ofthe structural,functional and content components of the theory appearsto have been begun.

The third and fourth sections on Application of theTheories and Mechanisms of Learning are probably ofmost interest to readers of this journal. Kamii's articlehas direct relevance to preschool education and hassome insightful comments on the Piagetian andempirically verified basis for much of what has beenthought of as "virtuous" or value laden nursery schoolpractice: this she does whilst avoiding the pitfall of manya Piagetian exegesist making the facts fit the theory. Forits rare mixture of theory and practicality, this chaptershould be read and re-read by every preschoolpractitioner. Where we are now at, vis-a-vis theory andpractice, is spelled out clearly for us by Gallagher in anarticle in which she demarcates the progression throughthe first stage of teaching Piagetian tasks through that ofconcentration on the limitations of the various stages tothe present state of engaging in a search for themechanisms of learning, or of how knowledge developsin the individual. She suggests that a first approximationof that answer might lie along the lines of reflexiveabstraction, or of the ability of the child to talk about his/her own thought processes.

Kuhn's paper on self-directed activity is a fineexample of how ingenious psychological experi­mentation can both confirm and refine tenets of educ­ational practice, e.g. planning one's own problemsolving strategies is a more growth forcing activity thanaccepting another's ready-made strategy. At the sametime, she throws some light on what mental activity, asopposed to any other other kind of activity, might looklike - a distinction which Dickworth urges us to dis­tinguish at all times. Many phychologists and educatorsconsider that Piagetian theory is the best we have got at

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present in advancing the practice of teaching andlearning. For such (and this includes the reviewer)it willbecome clear after reading this book that we still have along way to go, but that nevertheless this book has gonean appreciable way in the right direction.

Anne McKenna

GRIFFIN. ELINOR FITCH. Island of Childhood:Education in the Special World of Nursery School.Teachers College Press, New York. 1982. Pp, 306.

Continuing the analogy of the title, this book could bedescribed as a Michelin Guide to the world of thenursery school. It is informative, acutely observed,instructive and above all carries the conviction that theauthor is writing about familiar territory. Dr. Griffinhasan academic background, but this is not a book whichexpounds educational theories, and one could search theindex in vain for any of the great names of develop­mental or educational psychology. While her trainingand experience as a clinical psychologist and Head ofthe Child Development Department at Washington StateCollege, undoubtedly contributed greatly to her under­standing of the functioning of the young child, the valueof this book lies in the detailed descriptions, analysesand specificdirections it contains, based on records keptover twenty years as director of a nursery school.

The nursery school, like all formal social institutions,is a vehicle for transmitting cultural values, and theattitudes presented in this book are discerniblyAmerican. The emphasis is on the social and emotionaldevelopment of the child rather than on cognitivedevelopment or the acquisition of skills, though in realityas the author stresses one cannot make such anarbitrary distinction. The atmosphere of Dr. Griffin'sschool is democratic, with the teacher as facilitator,helper and resource centre rather than director orauthority figure. Children's views, emotions and wishes

are accorded the same serious consideration one wouldgive to those of an adult. The programme of the schoolis "unstructured, leaving children to do what they wishfor as long as they like. The emphasis is on the childlearning by his own activity and according to his owndevelopmental clock. As the author points out in thepreface, there is a popular movement in education whichstresses teaching the three R's in preparation forcompetitive society, but there is a counter-movement, ofwhich this book is an expression, which believes thatevery child has a right to live in the present andexperience it fully.

The book is divided into two sections, dealing in turnwith what the author describes as the basic goals ofyoung children, the achievement of relationships andself-affirmation. The six chapters of the first sectioncover in detail issues such as the process of initiatingchildren into the nursery, arranging and maintaining agood group climate, dealing with conflict betweenchildren, setting limits for behaviour, and the role andpersonal qualities of the good nursery teacher. Eachchapter is enlivened by appropriate examples drawnfrom the author's personal experience. Advice is specificand concrete, one of the merits of the book.

The section titled Self-Affirmation deals with whatone could loosely describe as play activities. The role ofthe school is seen as providing materials and learningopportunities, but the involvement of the child in these isself-initiated. There is a useful chapter on children withproblems, and also covered are dramatic play, booksand language expression, art, dance and music.

Though Dr. Griffin never fully articulates atheoretical view on how children function emotionallyand intellectually, or how they develop and learn, it isimplicit in her writing. Even if one disagrees with herviewpoint at times, this does not greatly detract from thevalue of the book, because it is above all a practical textwhich should prove useful to all who work with youngchildren.

Kathleen Kennedy