Yes, I already have listened to it twice so I can retain as much of the valuable information as possible.

Praising hard work rather than achievement/results.

No.

Same

I've raised kids and I've seen kids being raised. The kids that are told they can do anything or a 'special' constantly need to be 'propped' up by their parents. They're some of the most whiny and insecure people while their growing up and once their grown up. In the book 'Millionaire Next Door' they discuss parents doing 'Outpatient Economic Support'. Now parents are doing 'Outpatient Emotional Support'. The parents put 'affirmation notes' in the kids bags, lunches and text them to them. I see 'kids' coming into the work force all the time thinking that they company 'owes' them. Or they should be promoted just because they showed up. I see them not able to stand up for themselves when a boss says their wrong. They're not able recover after they lose a promotion or a discussion. Here we see where we believed as parents that teaching our kids there are not winners & losers was a losing proposition all around. We need to be honest, consistent and teach our kids that their going to lose. We need to teach them that yes they have natural gifts and then they must work on the non-developed gifts they have. Instead we teach them to 'do what they love' and that will get them by. Will it? The kids that get ahead are the ones that are taught to work hard to get ahead.

The book is narrated by Po Bronson, and you can tell by the way the book is read because the narrator has real vested interest and knowledge of what he is reading. The topics that are covered are of great importance to parents, new or experienced. The topics are not covered in such extensive detail that you feel the author is dragging on and on, but instead the authors cover the topics at just the right amount sighting great research. The research presented is understandable to anyone. The author adds just the right amount of personal info to give the book a real personal touch. Again though the author does not give you too much personal information to make you feel like the author is using the book as a bragging post about is own kids. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan to listen to it again.

Brain Waves for Babies.

No.

Don't doubt yourself as a parent. If something seems not quite right to you it probably isn't good for your child. Many things can affect a child, very few things will ever affect a child and shape them for the rest of there life.

Parenthood carries a load of guilt--for all the things we did wrong--and this book doesn't help. But I loved it anyway. I bought it for 4 of my friends immediately. It is non-fiction, but a page-turner all the same.

I would recommend that my friends read this book but I would vehemently warn them about listening to it. The narrator/author is not pleasant to listen to. I am a social scientist, and I loved learning the contents, but the narrator/author is not a trained speaker, and he only knows how to place emphasis by spiking the pitch in his voice. There are surely other ways to emphasize a point (volume, pacing and pauses, e.g.). In fact, I could only take 15 minutes of his reading style at a time before I finally stopped listening altogether. I never finished listening, and it's a relief on my ears.

Not unless it is read by someone else.

The narrator's tone of voice was not pleasant, and he emphasizes points by raising the pitch in an annoying way.

I liked all of the interesting, myth-busting information in this book. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone just starting down the parenting trail or even us seasoned parents who need to re-evaluate what works and doesn't.

I liked all the well-documented information on studies that supported the claims the author makes.

The narrator was a little sing-songy.

It made me think and discuss the content of the book with friends, who, in turn, want to read the book. That's the best kind of book for me.

I had heard of this book from a number of other parents with children of various ages, but was not all that convinced--often, titles like this conceal a bunch of crappy, half-baked not well thought out ideas.

That's not the case for nurture shock.

Working in tech, the name Po Bronson was familiar enough to me that my first thought was "What does he know about child rearing"--after all, the book I knew him by was "Nudist on the Late Shift", so there isn't a lot of obvious correlation. It turns out that he felt the same way--he's just a dad who was trying to do things the right way, and started looking at the studies on child rearing, and the way that children actually turn out.

Similar to Freakonomics, it turns out that when the entire set of science related to child raising (including teenagers) is consolidated, there are many, many surprises in store.

A few examples:

Peter and the Wolf vs. George Washington and the Cherry Tree--which is more effective in stopping children from lying, and why?

Parents who argue with their teenagers frequently vs. rarely--how does the perception of the adult differ from that of the teen in the relationship?

Is spanking good, bad or indifferent? Does it matter who spanks, where and when?

How "colorblind" approaches to child raising are the wrong way to go...

and much more.

If you buy it, be warned--you may end up buying others for other parents you know so that you can talk and compare notes.

The information provided by this book is understandable, supported by science and is actionable. Parents can listen to this book and apply what they've learned for the benefit of their children. The usefulness of this book is its greatest feature.

I enjoyed listening to the author/narrator. The information is presented in a conversational tone with plenty of anecdotes.

The title is a bit confusing... but the image of a cracked egg says it all: You can't go back in again!

As a health care professional and parent, this book debunked lots of traditional parenting beliefs... and also gave scientific support to other workable approaches that help deal with issues such as praise of children, early academic testing for "giftedness", lying, sibling rivalry and so much more.

Although Po Bronson's reading was a tad slow, it did allow the listener to grapple with the surprising and detailed concepts being presented. This is one of the few audiobooks that I plan to buy in hardcover, to use as a reference, and to give as a gift to other well-intentioned parents.

A great book that hopefully will allow this parenting culture to evolve.

This is one of the most useful audiobooks about parenting and working with kids that I have read.

The studies examined included the misconceptions caused by trying to raise kids to be blind to color, the perils of praise, and the merits of arguing with a teenager.

The research and studies were made interesting and easy to follow by the narrator.