How Children Succeed:
Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character
Author: Paul Tough
(Audiobook Narrated by: Dan John Miller)
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(Audiobook Published by: Tantor Media)
Publication Date: September 4, 2012
I listened to the audiobook of this so I guess I should review it both as a book and as an audiobook. As an audiobook, it's fair. The narration is good, except for the fact that the narrator insists on doing accents and character voices, which is unnecessary in a non-fiction title. I know the author references interviews that he conducted or quotations that he pulled from other sources, but it doesn't mean the narrator has to act them out with every accent and "funny female voice" he can muster. At best, it's distracting. At worst, it's pretty annoying. But other than that, the narration is great.
As a book, I can understand a lot of the frustration expressed by other reviewers. The title is misleading, indicating that: (a) the book is aimed at parents or educators as a how-to guide; and (b) the author has arrived at actual conclusions about "how children succeed." Neither is entirely true.
Mostly the book is a collection of anecdotal evidence and isolated case studies that show...well, nothing. At least according to the author. It seems that every case he brings up--whether it is research done by psychologists, or pedagogical experiments undertaken by schools, or statistics gathering done by government agents--leads him to the same conclusion: Well, that didn't work.
This book would be depressing if it weren't so ridiculous. His ultimate conclusion about why some children succeed and others don't? An intangible quality that we can't really define and don't understand how to teach but probably is either learned, acquired or inherited..or none of those.
Great. Thanks.
As a book, I can understand a lot of the frustration expressed by other reviewers. The title is misleading, indicating that: (a) the book is aimed at parents or educators as a how-to guide; and (b) the author has arrived at actual conclusions about "how children succeed." Neither is entirely true.
Mostly the book is a collection of anecdotal evidence and isolated case studies that show...well, nothing. At least according to the author. It seems that every case he brings up--whether it is research done by psychologists, or pedagogical experiments undertaken by schools, or statistics gathering done by government agents--leads him to the same conclusion: Well, that didn't work.
This book would be depressing if it weren't so ridiculous. His ultimate conclusion about why some children succeed and others don't? An intangible quality that we can't really define and don't understand how to teach but probably is either learned, acquired or inherited..or none of those.
Great. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this audiobook free from Tantor Media through Edelweiss. I was asked to write an honest review, though not necessarily a favourable one. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
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