Whereas most psychology textbooks might instruct readers on how to differentiate between the behaviors of the two sexes, Lise Eliot’s work “Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps—and What We Can Do About It” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) is devoted to bridging the alarming differences in sex we, as a society, have already come to expect and even admire. The New Yorker says, “Lise Eliot nimbly refutes the overemphasis on sex differences that has dominated popular thinking in our Mars and Venus age—but without resorting to a facile denial of differences, either. This is a lively, marvelously clear, and readable book that combines all the latest research on sex differences with smart, sensible, and humane advice to parents on how to bring out the fullest potential in both boys and girls.” A groundbreaking work, “Pink Brain, Blue Brain” is structured around ways that parents can expand their children’s minds by emphasizing what is of particular importance to each sex. For boys, this may mean reading books out loud, even after they have learned to read silently to themselves. Girls, on the other hand, need to expand their visual awareness by playing more with video games and Legos than Barbie dolls. Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer Prize winner who is also the author of “Sex on the Brain: The Biological Differences Between Men and Women” has this to say about Eliot’s book:
I wish that “Pink Brain, Blue Brain” had been available when my children were small. It’s smart about our biology, smart about our culture—and genuinely thought-provoking in considering the way the two intersect. Read it if you’re a parent seeking some savvy insight on child rearing, as a teacher looking to help students—or just read it for the pleasure of understanding yourself a little better.
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