Gifted Children

The need for a book?or better still, books?on the needs of gifted children is beyond doubt. Of the 33 references given by the authors on this topic, only three are by British writers. It is therefore all the more regrettable that this book cannot be welcomed unreservedly. The preface calls it entertaining and pleasant, and that it certainly is. So are the 15 photographs it contains but, except for two or three, their relevance is marginal. This applies to much of the book. It contains interesting, graphically presented case histories and excerpts from the speech and writing of gifted children. But many of the authors' gener-alisations apply with equal force to all children?while not a few of the theories have little factual foundation. For example, there is no evidence that the Initial Teaching Alphabet is 'the most important innovation in the field of instructing the young and gifted child'. Nor has it been shown that there is a high proportion of gifted children among 'dyslexics' or 'inconse-quentials'. After all, experts do not even agree that these are distinct conditions. And the statement that all teachers of the handicapped have an extra year's training is just wishful thinking. In short, the book is largely impres-sionistic and unlikely to be a reliable guide for those seriously concerned about the special needs of the gifted child. Yet the authors have performed a useful task by drawing attention to such children and to the need for research in this field.