A Field Guide to Boys and Girls

A Field Guide to Boys and Girls is the only book to answer these common questions and many others, addressing the special needs of boys and girls all in one volume. Susan Gilbert offers a fresh examination, based on the latest research, of the topic of gender development, showing that there are in fact natural differences between boys and girls -- and how parents can use this information to raise their children the best way possible (a "Suggestions for Parents" section ends each chapter).

Looking at the stages boys and girls go through from fetal development to adolescence, Susan Gilbert tells parents things about their children they might never have known -- for example, that boys cry more frequently, and that girls make more eye contact, eliciting more conversation from parents, a fact that allows girls to speak earlier than boys.

Outlining the differences simply and clearly, Susan Gilbert shows parents how to nurture the areas in boys and girls that may be slower to develop, such as math skills in girls and language skills in boys, and how to deal with the challenges they face as their children grow up.

As pioneering gender researcher Carol Nagy Jackson, Ph.D., says in her foreword, "Scientists have not always been able to translate their findings into usable information for the general public....

This 'field guide' provides a missing link." In talking to a variety of educators, psychologists, and behavioral pediatricians, Susan Gilbert has amassed all the most important current thinking and practices on gender, translating the findings into easy-to-use advice. A Field Guide to Boys and Girls is a vital tool that no parent can afford not to read.

Susan Gilbert,a regular contributor to the New York Times science section, is a journalist who writes extensively on children's health and development. Her work has appeared in publications ranging from Redbook to Parenting to the Harvard Health Publications. She lives in New York.