These books have helped me understand what my children have been going through at various stages/ages of their development. This book was on target with my daughter's behavior/temperment. However, I found the problem solving answers to be extrememely outdated. The authors suggested that a particular seven yr old who disliked school could either change to a private school, stay back in first grade or shorten the school day. What were they thinking? No suggestions were given as to how to talk to the child or work with the teachers,school or family doctor. I thought I would get some advice for a similar problem, not this time. In general I found this book helpful but think it needs to be updated, possibly each decade.

When my then 5 1/2 year old was behaving much differently than he had at age 5, my mother pulled out an old hardcover version of the Gesell Institute Books and - oh my! - much of the changes seemed to be quite common among 5 1/2 year olds!

These are 'old' books (I'm one of the earliest of the baby boomers, though my child is now nearly 9), but they are still useful.

This book and all in the series are little paperbacks, quick to read. Our society has changed since they were written, so a bit of the book may seem dated if you don't like 'traditional roles. However, there is much good information and wisdom in here, unencumbered by the modern day concerns about ADD and such. In expensive, a good investment to ease a parent's mind. A nice gift from grandparents to their own children, and for young parents, just nice to have on the shelf for those days when we forget that kids behaviors and interests change as they grow up.

Seeing into the mind of a seven-year old is an amazing journey. From sullen independence to exhuberant joy at new horizons. Louise Bates Ames guides readers around the pitfalls and gives a new understanding to this inwardly viewed age. It's as wonderful as the rest of her age-related books.

A classic and must have for parents. It helps to know that you are not alone and going insane when such normal situations occur within your family.

When my then 5 1/2 year old was behaving much differently than he had at age 5, and I thought I must have lost all of my parenting skills, my mother pulled out an old hardcover version of the Gesell Institute Books and - oh my! - much of the changes seemed to be quite common among 5 1/2 year olds!

These are 'old' books (I'm one of the earliest of the baby boomers, though my child is now nearly 9), but they are still useful.

This book and all in the series are little paperbacks, quick to read. Our society has changed since they were written, so a bit of the book may seem dated if you don't like 'traditional roles. However, there is much good information and wisdom in here, unencumbered by the modern day concerns about ADD and such. In expensive, a good investment to ease a parent's mind. A nice gift from grandparents to their own children, and for young parents, just nice to have on the shelf for those days when we forget that kids behaviors and interests change as they grow up.

The book gave my wife and me an accurate insight on the behavior of our six year old. It seemed like the book was talking about our daughter. We felt very comforted to know that the behavior that we see in our child is not uncommon. We have followed the advice given by the Gessel Institute to avoid and treat tampers. Overall, it is a great guide for parents.

Ames and Harber explore this livley energized challenging time in a child's life and provide insights for parents to guide them through this rollar coaster ride between seven and nine years old. The authors aim to offer parents insight on everything from relationships and family life to routines and birthday parties. Each chapter is rich with observation and empirical and anecdotal data. While you may not always agree with the conclusions the authors reach, credit is easily given to the skill with which they are able to articulate their observations. Your Eight Year Old: Lively and Outgoing is a practical systematic guide to better understanding eight year old behavior.

Having bought "Your 6-Year-Old" and found it terrific, we purchased this book when we were going through some problems with our then 8-year-old. "Your 6-year-old" was extremely helpful to us at the time, giving us lots of tools to deal with the changes our daughter was going through. However, "Your 8-Year-Old" didn't seem to go into as much depth as the 6-year-old one did. The descriptions of various personality traits and development phases seemed more general in this book than in the 6-year-old book. Although it was helpful, we felt that it could have gone into more detail.

I am buying this book because I already own "Your two year old" through "Your six year old" written by the same author. The books I have read by this author are succinct and written in a conversational tone. The insight that I've gained into the developmental/behavioral stages of a child in this series have been great.

Some of the developmental information is helpful, but the methods described in the book (isolating children from each other, turning your child over to a baby-sitter as a method of "parenting") are archaic at best, draconian at worst. Stay far away. Try any book by Dr. Sears.

I'm giving this book a mixed review. I thought the developmental information was extremely helpful - it was great to know my son was behaving like a "typical" 3.5-year-old rather than a sociopath in the making. However, the solutions offered by the authors are less than stellar. They basically encourage parents to dump the kid off at the babysitter's or daycare as much as possible until they straighten up. Excuse me? The last chapter, which had supposedly "real" questions from parents, was laughable at best and mildly horrifying at worst. I'd love to see the authors update this book, because it is really outdated.

I found this book to be completely lacking in much practical information. I was hoping for some insight into why my 3 year old acts the way she does, and some practical solutions for dealing with it, but I didn't find that. What I found was something like "some three year olds are like this, and some are like that and others are like something else entirely." That much I could have figured out on my own. Even less helpful was the section on "equilibrium". Three year olds are wonderful, but when they're three and a half, look out. But then again, not all three year olds hit these "equilibrium" points at the same time... or at all. Just not a helpful book. Don't bother.

As parents we all require occasional assistance when it comes to parenting. We seek advice from friends, family members, doctors, and other "experts," and if you're like me, you reach for a book. My five-year-old is delightful in most ways, but I'm concerned that he should take more initiative and accomplish additional simple tasks on with limited guidance. In fact, it seems he has been conditioned to wait for my wife and me to perform simple tasks for him and, therefore, he has been "taught" to be helpless in many situations. For this reason, I sought a book to give me a few ideas on everyday responsibilities that five-year-olds ought to be accomplishing on their own.

I bought "Your Five-Year-Old" by Louise Bates Ames after it was recommended to me by an expert in positive discipline.

The book is very short, at 111 pages, and is divided into ten chapters:

1.Characteristics of Age Five
2.The Child and Others
3.Routines, Health, and Tensional Outlets
4.Discipline
5.Accomplishments and Abilities
6.The Child's Mind
7.School
8.The Five-Year-Old Party
9.Individuality
10.Stories from Real Life

It also includes appendixes on good toys and books for five-year-olds and also books for parents of five-year-olds.

Because I have more reasons to dislike the book than to find it appealing, I'll begin by sharing my complaints. My first criticism is that the book is dated, having been written in 1979. The time period of when the book was authored leaves the contents with many outdated notions, many of which I would have overlooked had they not been so irritating. Firstly, the father-child relationship is referred to only a few times, and primarily in a stereotypical manner. Conversely, the mother-child relationship is referenced in much detail throughout the text. Secondly, there is a disparaging reference to Indians, albeit as shared by a little girl from a nightmare. Thirdly, the book recommends that a five-year-old ought to be able to walk alone two blocks to a store. Not that crime against children is any worse now than in the late Seventies, but what parent in his or her right mind would let a child of this age do this? (Am I wrong?) Fourthly, and perhaps trivially, when it comes to common activities for five-year-olds, many are dated, such as listening to records.

My second criticism of the book is that it gave me no new ideas on how to have my son initiate and complete more simple tasks on his own, which was my purpose for buying the book.

On the positive side, the book can be read in a few hours. Secondly, it contains several enchanting pictures of smiling five-year-olds. The "Accomplishments and Abilities" chapter does give the reader some indication as to whether your five-year-old is on track, but the substance is primarily common sense.

All said, I doubt this book will provide much enlightenment to parents looking for suggestions such as I sought.

I enjoyed reading the book especially the sections on school readiness and how a 5 year old child's mind works. This is a good book for parents to read in light of the tendency to push children academically and socially before they are ready developmentally.

When you know what behaviors are "normal" for your child's age you can relax, stop the worry, and focus on appropriate solutions. This whole series of books accurately defines the ages and stages of children. These books keep your expectations realistic and allow you to avoid anger caused by a lack of understanding of your child's developmental stages.

I often randomly select a book from our files to read and review. Having just sent my oldest off to college, and with two other teens at home, I found the book to be more of an affirmation of raising them correctly, than dealing with specific time-sensitive issues. We dealt with more than our share of medical, educational and family issues as the children were growing up, and the one thing I learned was that no advice is the correct advice when you are in the middle of a crisis. If the problem is so severe that you are even tempted to write to a neutral third (or fourth or fifth)party, chances are you won't be able to read the answer on a neutral basis (that is, if you GET an answer). The questions were a bit polite, but poignant, and would need to be rewritten for the new millenium (and corresponding teen issues), but it's nice to thumb through the book and land on a question/issue to find that you would have dealt with it the same way. There are some incredible letters from "concerned grandparents" that will amaze you with the audacity, and led me to wonder if they were actual letters or just an exaggerated essay in which to attach an appropriate "speech." In general, a good book but, as the subject line reads, "Don't ask for advice while you're in the middle of a crisis."