This attractively laid out volume draws a detailed picture of how a child's mind looks upon the world and what sparks its interest. A number of successful children's designs (toys, literature, media, places, consumables) are studied to illustrate principles of designing for children. False starts are included, giving a good idea of what NOT to do as well. Experts are quoted, but there are also quotes from the children themselves who were asked why they liked the products, providing some unexpected insights. Chapters are arranged so that they loosely evolve from the youngest children to 12 years old. Each ends with a very welcome "Age Cues, Design Clues" spread that is a quick and clear reference to the physical and psychological development of each age group, and therefore what they like, can and need to play with.

It would be a mistake to approach this volume as a collection of reliable recipes for catering (and selling) to children. The author obviously wishes to provide the basic psychological theory while letting the examples show for themselves that you can't pigeonhole children that easily. Whether she has achieved this balance is a matter of personal opinion. I do appreciate the fact design for children is treated not as "how to make kids buy buy buy" but as a tool for the development and stimulation of young minds.

One problem with the book is its steep price for what it is, with no softcover edition available that I know of. My main concern is, how relevant is it to my culture? I have no doubt that it is spot-on for the (Western) society in which the author has obtained such experience, but what of more traditional cultures, places where children are brought up with a different visual baggage, and where the relationship of society to children is altogether different? Such factors made the book less useful to me than I had hoped. Many of the examples made me think: "That wouldn't work here, because..." Readers dealing with non-Western children should be aware of that limitation. That doesn't mean I regret buying the book. Many of the insights are universal and it is up to us to adapt them to our work environment. At times it helps identify pitfalls of children design in my own country and how to initiate a change for the better. In that sense, it is a great volume to start from. ( )