Bright Toddler is Doctor Woolfson’s follow up to Bright Baby. Written for ages 15 to 36 months, the book is bright, easy to read, and is organized like a trade school text more than an instructive book. Written in columns with full color color pictures and a highly scannable layout, it’s a great source for busy parents who want to quickly absorb the information and apply it to daily life.

Bright Toddler covers child growth and development during these bumbling, beautiful toddler years. It contains easy-to-read charts and is very organized, with sections divided by both topic and age. Some sections include fine motor, gross motor, language development, learning, and social emotional development. It’s very easy to find the section that applies to your child’s current age and quickly turn to that topic. An age index is also in the book for quick reference, as well as a general index.

The book opens on a summary of overall child development. Other topics in the book include nonverbal communication in toddlers, self-confidence issues, childcare, sibling rivalry, tantrums, potty training, gender differences, eating, sleeping and bedtime rituals, and more. Parents may be interested in the topics of nature vs. nurture, dealing with shyness, and other specific situations as well.

Sidebars with tips about each subject are highlighted on each page—and they’re not the annoying sidebars that simply repeat the information found elsewhere on the page (such as the case in The Unschooling Handbook, an otherwise excellent book); they’re actually extra tips and information that come in handy.

The best part of the book are the different activities and toys suggested for children grouped by age. These are very helpful in both stimulating your child’s development as well as simply having age-appropriate fun with him. The charts and developmental timelines, though informative, may not be as helpful, particularly with children with delayed development or prematurity. In such cases, it’s better to rely on your own pediatrician to monitor your child’s growth and development rather than standards set forth in the book.

Otherwise, there are wonderful explanations on how to understand your child’s eye-hand coordination as he or she develops, how to encourage body movement and activities, how to understand his or her social and emotional development, and how to stimulate language development and pre-reading skills. Richard C. Woolfson, a child psychologist, provides plenty of different stimulating activities for both family fun and development encouragement.