Jeanne W. reviewed New First Three Years of Life: Completely Revised and Updated on + 8 more book reviews
This book has a wealth of information, easy to find topics, though it is written in somewhat stiffer, more formal language than many child development guides. It seems that White was on to the importance of early learning before it entered the popular consciousness; the first version of this tome was written in the mid-70s. He's an antidote to the shrill hawking of all kinds of materials to make your baby smarter; for each phase there's a short list of toys or other items that are actually useful; beyond that, he advises parents "to be extremely suspicious of so-called educational infant toys....Hard sell and oversell are natural by-products of the increased interest in early learning, especially among literate parents, and are a continuing problem in the field." I like the matter-of-fact style of this book.
