Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Louise Bates Ames books October 24, 2008
As with all of the child rearing books by Louise Bates Ames, this is another easy-to-read, concise and practical book. It is not necessary to read it from start to finish, and it is easy to go directly to the part of the book for help with my current issue, whatever that may be. I have found all her books to be very helpful, with practical advice for coping with the challenges of children of different ages. They also enhance the appreciation of the joys of each age group. Her books have helped smooth out my parenting from infancy to the teens.
 Oldie but goodie September 7, 2008
This book seems slightly outdated and not necessarily generalizable to all 10-14 year olds. However, it is a valuable reference to find out what is "normal" for the average kid. I would recommend this book to all parents.
A MUST READ for all parents ... June 1, 2008
I recommend these books (Your ONE Year Old, Your TWO Year Old, Your THREE Year Old, Your FOUR Year Old, Your FIVE Year Old, Your SIX Year Old, Your SEVEN Year Old, Your EIGHT Year Old, Your NINE Year Old, Your TEN-to-FOURTEEN Year Old. These books were writtten by Louise Bates Ames, PhD, Fances L. Ilg, MD and Sidney M. Baker MD of the Gesell Institute of Human Development. They are NOT a "how to" book for parents -- but rather provide a perspective of life from the child's various ages. I found the books to be of such value that I purchase the entire series for new parents. Somehow I forgot to purchase these books for my niece when she started her family. She expressed some concerns about her seven year old son's behavior (that I knew from experience to be that typical of seven year olds). I purchased the books from the series that will help my niece from here on. She LOVES them! I have a feeling she will use them and pass them along to other parents. My original set are part of my permanent library. I highly recommend these books for your permanent library as well!
 So dated that disappointing September 11, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Let me start by saying, I wish that I had read the reviews on Amazon before picking up this book at a store. There are two major problems with this book.
First, it is extremely dated. The world in the early 70's is not what it is now. The issues faced by our children, ranging from AIDS to the technology with which they interact, to terrorism, are drastically different.
Second, and perhaps even more importantly, the authors used what I consider to be questionable methodology for writing the book. It is based almost entirely on interviews and surveys of parents and children. It then comes up with global conclusions ("Your ten-year-old will feel . . . ") based on the responses they received. Even if this were a reasonable method of telling me what my 10-year-old will be like -- which I doubt -- the fact that it is based on very old data renders it pretty much meaningless in 2007.
Furthermore, I am not sure how you "distill" all children into such formulaic conclusions. They do distinguish that "X% said this and Y% said that" in some categories, but this means nothing 30 years later. More of it tells you how clean "your 10" will be, how s/he will perceive parents, etc., lumping everyone together. Not realistic.
So, if you are seeking a relevant, timely, resource regarding pre-teen development and expectations, this is not it. If you want a survey on how parents and tweens perceived things 30 years ago, then that is fine.
 Review of Ten- to Fourteen-Year-Old by Louise Bates Ames June 13, 2007
The book has very valuable information that is timeless so it does not seem dated. THere is limited information which is repeated over and over in different sections so decide how you want to approach the info - eg: by age, by topic, by environment and read that section of the book. All other sections use the same data and provide the same information.
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