The Too Precious Child: The Perils of Being a Super-Parent and How to Avoid Them

by Louisa Rose, Lynn H. Williams, Henry S. Berman

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689116012
• ISBN13: 9780689116018
• Release Date: October 1987
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 317 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Too Precious Child

Wisdom from two experienced pediatric specialists and a wife, mother and writer distilled in an easy to read and accessible book. I read this when my own children were small and re-read it recently as they are graduating from high school. I highly recommend this book to all parents and parents-to-be.

Full of wisdom

I picked up this book for something to read while my kids were in the library. I wasn't concerned about being an over-involved parent, but was curious about the subject. The book started slowly, but the more I read it, the more I liked it. This is not a pop psychology book. It doesn't tell you the 3 or 12 easy steps to successful parenting. What it does is clearly outlines the issues surrounding the emotional growth of children, and not just "too precious" children. The book is not particularly easy reading. A few times it drifts into psychological terms. But I found that with a little effort, and some re-reading, it was all understandable. (I am not trained in psychology, but have an interest in it.) The value of this book is that is thoroughly explores the developmental issues around "too precious" children and their parents. The authors have empathy for parents who have difficulty giving their children what is best for them, and offers them support and advice. Unfortunately the advice is not simple. We each have to look at ourselves and our children and to strive to be objective in order to see what's in the child's best interest. I think it is very hard to explain, in layman's terms, what it means to be a "too precious" child. It is not the same as a spoiled child, or a too-driven child, or an over-protected child, although it has similarities with these three. The book manages, in my opinion, to clearly say what it is. The more I read it, the clearer it became. And unlike most child-rearing books I have read, by the end of the book I was hungry for more. I strongly recommend this book. It has the feel of authority to it. It is written by child development experts. It is full of wisdom. It comes closer than any any other book I have read to being the owner's manual that should have come with our babies. I expect some people won't find the book as valuable as I have. It is a bit heavy reading, and although it has very many useful anecdotes, it doesn't provide lists of "what to do in situation X", that can be useful. The anecdotes are often not clear about whether the parent made a good or bad choice. But in almost all cases, after a little reading, I understood the intent of the story. It is hard work to understand the subtle issues around "too precious" parenting. This book makes it easier. The examples are powerful, especially the later chapters - when the authors discuss adolescence and adulthood of "too precious" children.