Review by Choice Review
Using vivid case studies, Winner paints a complex picture of the gifted child. The book is organized around nine misconceptions concerning the nature of giftedness because these are the most pervasive and problematic. Winner employs the best scientific research on giftedness in the areas of art, music, mathematics, and verbal ability, to introduce several extraordinary children to readers. In the process, she debunks myths concerning giftedness, e.g., the myth that parents of gifted children drive their children too hard and make them burn out. In reality, most parents of gifted children are allies, not slave drivers, and few gifts can develop without a parent or surrogate parent pushing behind the scenes. The author assesses the role played by schools in fostering exceptional abilities, and argues that schools waste resources on weak educational programs for the moderately gifted. She advocates elevating standards for all children and focusing resources for gifted education on those with extremely high abilities who are not touched by the kinds of programs available today. Winner concludes with nine more realistic and informed perceptions of gifted children. All levels. M. Klatte Eastern Kentucky University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Stephen, aged 5, fluently reads orchestral scores. Hillary, 12, ranked in the 99th percentile nationally in all subjects (math, language, reading, science, social studies) on standardized aptitude tests. Winner's case studies of exceptional children are as intrinsically interesting as her findings in this eye-opening study. Gifted children, we learn, are often socially isolated and unhappy. Having a high IQ is irrelevant to giftedness in art or music. Only a very few of the gifted become eminent, creative adults-and when parents are over-involved or push to excess, gifted children are especially likely to drop out or lose interest in their domain of talent. A Boston College psychology professor, Winner blames unchallenging, neglectful schools for wasting gifted children's time and potential. She recommends allowing exceptional students to skip grades and be given individualized instruction and advanced programs. Illustrated with remarkably precocious artwork, her survey throws much light on creativity, learning and personal growth in both normals and gifteds. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In this examination of commonly held beliefs about gifted children, Winner (psychology, Boston Coll.) considers a number of questions: Are gifted children gifted in all subject areas? Are artistically gifted children gifted or talented? Does giftedness depend on IQ? What role do environment and biology play in giftedness? Are gifted children psychological and social misfits? In her analyses, Winner cites and explains a broad range of recent research, including extensive notes and references with each chapter. She then offers her recommendations for dealing with gifted children in America's educational systemsrecommendations that are controversial and not necessarily supported by her research. She calls for elevating standards for all while cutting back on expenditures on those she deems only somewhat gifted. The value of this provocative book is in its comprehensiveness. Recommended for both public and academic libraries.Kay Brodie, Chesapeake Coll., Wye Mills, Md. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Winner's ambitious study focuses on the hereditary, familial, and characterological factors shared by gifted children, and suggests ways in which American educators might help such students develop their special talents. Winner (Psychology/Boston Coll.) notes that precocious youth differ from their peers in being ``independent, self-directed, willful, dominant non-conformists,'' possessed of a raging desire to master new skills and an ability to improvise approaches to learning and problem-solving. Winner goes on to explode some myths about the gifted, including the belief that giftedness necessarily correlates with a high IQ, particularly among artists; some extremely talented young painters and sculptors have only average IQs, while others even suffer from learning disorders such as dyslexia. Gifted children also tend to have parents who provide intellectual stimulation and emotional support. Winner also points out the alarming fact that, while girls ``make up about half the population in . . . programs for the gifted in kindergarten through third grade,'' by junior high school ``they make up less than 30 percent.'' But it isn't only girls that society discourages: Our educational system lets down gifted children of both sexes, she asserts, by keeping them in classes with less advanced peers out of misguided egalitarianism, or by grouping them together in superficial programs that meet just a few hours a week. Winner's best section offers a convincing analysis of why some gifted children become highly creative adults--and why many do not. Gifted children must learn how to broaden, apply, and otherwise develop a talent that has come as a gift, transforming ``sheer technical skill into something more conceptual, interpretative, and original.'' Written in serviceable if unspectacular prose, her book should help parents and teachers to aid the gifted as they make the often difficult transition from being brilliant children to becoming genuinely creative and fulfilled adults. (44 b&w photos, not seen)
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Review by Choice Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
