Understanding the Whole Child: Prenatal Development through Adolescence

Reviewed by Rachel Feldwisch, Associate Dean, College of Education & Behavioral Sciences, University of Indianapolis on 10/31/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text provides comprehensive coverage of child development, beginning with pregnancy and ending with a brief section on emerging adulthood. Adequate attention is paid to each age and stage, and the detailed Table of Contents helps to demonstrate organization.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Information presented aligns with other popular texts in child development and lifespan development. Some references are more than 10 years-old, which means that some information may be out dated (e.g., the price of infant formula). Otherwise, the information appears to be accurate, unbiased, and without obvious errors.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The arrangement of the text will be easy to update.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is easy to understand, written at a late high school/college reading level. The authors do an excellent job of defining bolded terminology. They also include a unique section explaining the term "theory" before delving into the many theories associated with child and adolescent development.

Consistency rating: 5

Each chapter begins with chapter objectives that are demonstratable, and ends with a conclusion that summarizes the contents.

Modularity rating: 5

The text could easily be divided into smaller units of study without disruption to the reader.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text is well organized in chronological order from prenatal to emerging adulthood. The information is logical and clear.

Interface rating: 4

Tables are nicely organized and enhance understanding of the material. Some of the pictures are a bit blurry (e.g., 2.24, 4.11, 15.7).

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The text includes very few grammatical errors. A few issues with sentence structure and short paragraphs are present, but these do not take away from the excellent content of the book. In some chapters (e.g., Chapter 15), the book is not updated to APA Style 7th Edition (2019).

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text is culturally sensitive with images that show people from various ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. Includes a section on paternal impact. The text could be improved by infusing cultural concepts throughout each chapter of the book. For example, approaches to child birth and increased risks during pregnancy are addressed, and these are places where cultural information and practices could have been expanded. Coverage of the Gender Continuum, adolescent religious identity, ethnic identity, and sexual orientation (Chapter 15) are well done.

The book was comprehensive, enjoyable to read, and would be a welcome addition to an advanced high school or college course on child development. Well done!