cover image Tough Questions

Tough Questions

Shelia Kitzinger, Sheila Kitzinger. Harvard Common Press, $12.95 (306pp) ISBN 978-1-55832-032-1

Sheila ( The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth ) and Celia (The Social Construction of Lesbianism ) Kitzinger are an English mother-daughter partnership who come to their task with clearly defined progressive goals: ``One vital element in . . . preparation for life in the modern world must be education for social and political change''; and readers who disagree with that position will find the book at least partly tendentious. Few will find fault, however, with the authors' calm common sense and realistic idealism as they ponder what to tell children about death (which has, they note wryly, ``replaced sex as the great taboo subject'') and how to deal with moral questions, prejudice, aggression and violence and the thorny aspects of friendship and other relationships. The stress is always on respecting the child as an individual and on bringing out his or her thoughts or feelings rather than imposing adult views. There is a refreshing multiculturalism at work--examples are repeatedly drawn from non- Western societies--and brief case histories and personal experiences are sensitively pk integrated. The English origins of the book are plain without being obtrusive or restrictive, and any parent who finds the political approach appealing will find this a valuable, nurturing study. (Aug.)