Official Review: Stubborn children by Norio Ando

Justine Ocsebio · Post by **Justine Ocsebio** » 20 Nov 2020, 19:51

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Stubborn children" by Norio Ando.]

2 out of 4 stars

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Stubborn Children by Norio Ando is a book that aims to understand and analyze a stubborn child’s unpleasant behaviors and suggest practical treatment methods. The author is a clinical psychologist whose decades of experience in treating children with developmental disorders prompted him to write this useful guide to share his knowledge and expertise.

The author argues that we can change the way a person behaves by changing his/her emotional expression. He calls these emotions tensioned emotion, excited emotion, and relaxed emotion. He claims that a balance of the three is the ideal emotion to have. If there is only one emotion dictating an entire emotional expression, it will negatively affect a person’s mental functioning. In the case of a stubborn child, he/she is missing a balance of excitement and relaxation, so as a result, excessive tensioned emotion governs his/her behavior. Subsequently, the author introduces the concept of relaxed pleasure. He argues that if a child is consistently happy and relaxed, he/she will more likely develop a pleasant attitude.

I like that at the core of this book is the idea of patience and gentleness in handling children. The author does not believe in harsh suppression because, according to him, it would only do more harm than good. He’s a proponent of more creative techniques, like tickling, swaying the child’s arms, and making the child laugh. These methods would supposedly make the rigid mind of a stubborn child softer and more flexible.

At first, I was skeptical of the author’s proposed treatment methods. I thought it wouldn’t be that simple in real life. Would a stubborn child give in to mere gestures? I had my doubts removed when I got to the part where the author elaborated on his methods and walked me through the processes. There is a portion of the book that includes real-life cases of children whose parents came to him for advice. Reading this part led me to believe that his suggestions may probably work, after all. Also, the book has a coherent flow. The author has organized his lessons well, and each topic has a proper title. Diagrams and illustrations accompany these lessons to facilitate a better understanding of the content.

The things I dislike are mostly technical. For this kind of book, the use of simple, straightforward language is a wise writing style to employ. However, the text has plenty of grammatical errors and awkward sentence structures that sorely affected my otherwise seamless read. The author also tends to repeat himself verbatim, an aspect that makes several parts of this book unengaging and tedious to get through. While the author confessed to not having an excellent command of the English language, this book should still have gone through professional editing.

I see potential in this book. The author is very analytical with his concepts, and I find his methods practical and creative. Unfortunately, as it currently stands, I cannot give more than 2 out of 4 stars. To me, the flaws of this book outweigh the favorable elements. I strongly advise the author to work with a professional editor because it would significantly improve his book. This guide will be beneficial to parents with stubborn, disobedient children.

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Stubborn children
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Saint Bruno · Post by **Saint Bruno** » 25 Nov 2020, 23:27

Wow! This is a must read for parents and guardians because there that one child....haha. Thanks for the insightful review and recommendation.

Josephe-Anne · Post by **Josephe-Anne** » 25 Nov 2020, 23:56

I would have never considered tickling to be a treatment for stubborn behavior!

The emotional theories in this book are quite fascinating. Even though the text focuses on children, I believe that the concepts could be applicable to adults as well.

Thank you for an honest and informative review!

Ayindelaw · Post by **Ayindelaw** » 26 Nov 2020, 03:31

The cover of this book made sure that i gave it a second glance. I know of parents who will go to great lengths to see their children behave properly. This book is going to be a life saver by the time it goes through another round of editing. Thanks for the info on this book.

Raluca_Mihaila · Post by **Raluca_Mihaila** » 26 Nov 2020, 03:56

Every parent should read this book since, at some time, the child gets through a stubborn phase. Does it work on stubborn parents, too?

Thank you for your insightful review!

Post by **Kirsi Cultrera** » 26 Nov 2020, 07:14

I think it is very useful for a parent to read this type of books every once in a while. Hopefully the author takes the hint and gives this book to a professional editor in order to make the book even better. Thanks for your interesting review!

Ellylion · Post by **Ellylion** » 26 Nov 2020, 10:31

Sorry to learn that this book had so many issues, and hopefully the author fixes them all soon. Should be an interesting read for parents, psychologists and teachers. Thank you for your insightful review!

Justine Ocsebio · Post by **Justine Ocsebio** » 27 Nov 2020, 08:50

Josephe-Anne wrote: ↑25 Nov 2020, 23:56 I would have never considered tickling to be a treatment for stubborn behavior!

The emotional theories in this book are quite fascinating. Even though the text focuses on children, I believe that the concepts could be applicable to adults as well.

Thank you for an honest and informative review!

The idea of tickling a stubborn child is really creative for me.

Thank you for your comment!

Justine Ocsebio · Post by **Justine Ocsebio** » 27 Nov 2020, 08:53

Ayindelaw wrote: ↑26 Nov 2020, 03:31 The cover of this book made sure that i gave it a second glance. I know of parents who will go to great lengths to see their children behave properly. This book is going to be a life saver by the time it goes through another round of editing. Thanks for the info on this book.

I really hope it goes through a round of professional editing because this book truly has the potential. Thanks for your feedback

Nmesoma · Post by **Nmesoma** » 27 Nov 2020, 23:05

Sounds like a read. Thanks for the review, I feel that it certainly touched every important part of the book.

Tarilan · Post by **Tarilan** » 28 Nov 2020, 00:36

There is always that one child in every home who is so stubborn and rebellious. I hope the errors are fixed so that parents can benefit from this book. Thanks for the honest review.

Justine Ocsebio · Post by **Justine Ocsebio** » 28 Nov 2020, 05:44

raluca_mihaila wrote: ↑26 Nov 2020, 03:56 Every parent should read this book since, at some time, the child gets through a stubborn phase. Does it work on stubborn parents, too? Thank you for your insightful review!

I don’t think the author has discussed anything about how to deal with stubborn parents, but it would be an interesting inclusion! Thank you for your comment.

Justine Ocsebio · Post by **Justine Ocsebio** » 28 Nov 2020, 05:44

Kirsi_78 wrote: ↑26 Nov 2020, 07:14 I think it is very useful for a parent to read this type of books every once in a while. Hopefully the author takes the hint and gives this book to a professional editor in order to make the book even better. Thanks for your interesting review!

Thank you for this comment!