Recent Books

Siegler, R. S., DeLoache, J. S., & Eisenberg, N. (2003). How Children Develop. New York: Worth.

“The overall writing style is excellent. Even studies that are presented in depth are easy to understand. The authors do a particularly good job at explaining concepts in a way to which undergraduates can relate.”
     -- Jodie Plumert, University of Iowa

“The authors do a great job keeping the topics exciting by frequently giving concise and provocative descriptions of real studies.”
     -- Jacqueline Woolley, University of Texas-Austin

“…The book has many strengths. It is accurate and balanced. The very important topics of behavioral genetics and neuropsychology receive top-notch coverage, better than any I have seen. And, by consistently tying content to the themes, there is a concerted effort to help students appreciate that developmental research is important. This is no easy task and I’m sure that every instructor who adopts the text will be grateful to the authors for accomplishing it so effectively.”
     -- Derek Montgomery, Bradley University

“I would be highly likely to adopt this text. It is not overwhelming, but it is not simplistic. It does not flood the student with a hodge-podge of sidebars and boxes. It does not strain to be politically correct and diverse, but diversity appears naturally in context. It is highly readable and well-organized.”
     -- Elaine Cassel, Marymount University

“I would definitely adopt the book. Given the excitement of the new approach, and the reputation of the authors, this book seems destined to be a hit.”
     -- David Uttal, Northwestern University

Student Comments

“The textbook was outstanding in my opinion.”
     -- Anonymous, Course Evaluation, University of Virginia

“The text was a wonderful source of information and easy to read.”
     -- Anonymous, Course Evaluation, University of Virginia

“I LOVED the textbook — this was literally the first class for which I have done all the reading, let alone all the reading well ahead of time. I found myself very engaged in that book and it taught me a lot.”
     -- Anonymous, Course Evaluation, University of Virginia

“I really loved the textbook for this course. I loved the 7 themes in the book. They really helped to add some structure to the material.”
     -- Anonymous, Course Evaluation, University of Virginia

DeLoache, J. S., & Gottlieb, A. (Eds.) (2000). A world of babies: Imagined child care manuals from other cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

“The message of this book is kept simple: child-care behaviours are ingrained in specific cultural beliefs. It is the creativeness of the chosen format that makes it delightful.”

-- Catherine Panter-Brick, University of Durham

“If you ever find yourself assuming that there’s just one right way – your way – to bring up babies, read this book. It’s highly enjoyable and such a good idea that I only wish I’d thought of it myself.”

-- Penelope Leach, Ph.D.

“A refreshingly creative strategy to communicate the extraordinary variety in beliefs and rearing practices that can produce healthy, happy children. Every American parent should reflect on these cultural essays.”

-- Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., Harvard University

“A World of Babies is a witty, charming, and yet thoughtful and informative book that… is… for anyone who has ever wondered if babies are raised the same everywhere. A World of Babies, with its seven truth-filled fictional manuals on child-rearing from different parts of the world, gently persuades us that bringing a new person into existence is always a question of culture and history.”

-- Ruth Behar, Ph.D., University of Michigan

“Judy DeLoache and Alma Gottlieb’s book is just delightful. What a treat to read about the early child rearing practices in seven cultures around the world. The universals and the individual differences are just wonderful. This book should be a treat for all parents everywhere.”

-- T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., Harvard Medical School

“A fascinating, first-of-a-kind book… We learn a tremendous amount about each culture as we read the guidelines its members might have written for raising babies, for it is in these rules that the members of a culture display their deepest beliefs and highest ideals. Their extreme differences teach us to look beyond the narrow confines of our own child-raising customs and to celebrate the rich diversity of the human family.”

-- Robbie Davis-Floyd, author, Birth of an American Rite of Passage

“Having a baby is a life-enhancing and mind-extending trip into new lands, much like the marvelous anthropology of child rearing in this book. Take its expeditions, and it may help clarify the values and contexts of your own parenting, and bring the world’s children into clearer focus”

-- Catherine Lutz, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

DeLoache, J. S., Mangelsdorf, S. C., & Pomerantz, E. (Eds.) (1998). Current readings in child development, 3rd edition. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.