Got offspring? Caring for children or planning to? We have good news and bad news.

The good news is that this isn’t your typical parenting book. It’s systematic, non guilt inducing and based on two award-winning science journalists talking to researchers, observing their studies and using science to debunk the issues.

The bad news is that the conventional wisdom used in raising children today, although done with the best intentions, has in fact backfired as key twists in the science have been overlooked.

Bronson and Merryman cover so many topics in this fascinating book such as why silence about race is a mistake or why children become better liars – even though they know it is wrong –by the age of three. They talk about how most schools determine who their ‘gifted children’ are by the third grade and how the scholars who wrote the tests for the kindergarten screenings have actually confessed they picked the wrong children 72.4 % of the time. Also covered are why teenagers’ (or their brains) have a hard time waking up (i.e. studying) in the early morning and how praise that isn’t explicit will in fact cause children to underperform.

Other fascinating topics are sibling rivalry, obesity (it’s not always about what you eat or genetics), teen rebellion, and too many more to list.

This book is utterly compelling whether you have children or are simply interested in the human brain. It’s an absolute must, must, must read.

Got them? Get it. Good.