Book review: 'How Smart is Your Baby?'

How Smart is Your Baby? by Glenn Doman and Janet Doman

Glenn Doman has been associated with the study of child brain development for 60 years and has worked with brain-injured children. He has written a series of books called the Gentle Revolution series, and this one has been co-written with his daughter.
The idea behind the book is to help parents understand how a baby's brain develops. From that, they can then see how to read their own child's progress, and how they can enhance it.
It is not aimed at making parents paranoid or unneccessarily pushy but instead seeks to help them bring out the best in their child's own inherent abilities.

Organisation
The text itself can at times be pretty heavy going - you can tell Doman is an academic and an expert! However, boxes and pulled-out text raising key points help to guide parents through the book.
From crawling and crying, to exercises and fine motor skills, every aspect of a baby's first year is examined, explained and analysed. This done by taking your child through different 'evaluations' at different ages and stages within the first 12 months of life.

A weighty read
This is no light read, that's for sure!
If you are keen on this field then you might enjoy this book, but those of you with a more passing interest might prefer a book like Baby Milestones.
If you do want to read into the whys and wherefores of baby development however, this is an excellent and thorough book.

The ThinkBaby verdict

A serious assessment of how a baby grows and develops in the first year of life.

Usefulness:	4/5
Readability:	3/5
Value:	3/5