What's My Tween Thinking?: Practical Child Psychology for Modern Parents

by Tanith Carey, Angharad Rudkin, Céleste Wallaert (Illustrator)

Is the pull towards independence and the start of puberty bringing new challenges for you and your 8-to 12-year-old? The answers you seek are here.

This practical parenting handbook grounded in evidence-based psychology explores the changes in development during the "in-between years". Discover what your tween is really thinking.

Taking 75 recognisable scenarios, parenting author Tanith Carey and Child Clinical Psychologist Dr Angharad Rudkin address real-world concerns that parents of tweens face, from hearing "I hate you" and "just one more game", to friendship clashes, school concerns, body worries, and online safety.

Discover how to stay connected with your tween and lay the groundwork for the teenage years ahead.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

Published February 15, 2024

Reviews

[Anna Herr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty insightful and can be helpful for future situations.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with most self-help books / parenting books, I typically take the good and discard the rest. However, I felt like this book was one that was talking at me instead of to me. There are lots of great insights on the tween mind, thought processes and behavior, but the presentation of the content was less than appealing. (Hello, a section titled, "10-12" is the bulk at over 3 hours long). For an audiobook, this is highly disorganized. As an audiobook listener, I would have much appreciated the scenarios broken down into chapters for easy continuous listening.

Technical review aside. As with most self-help books / parenting books, I typically take the good and discard the rest. There are some great points in this book that can remind parents what it was like to be at that age. I had several 'oh yea' moments and found myself nodding along. In some other moments, I had some 'I'd tackle it differently' reactions. This might have been otherwise reviewed 3-4 out of 5 if not for the terrible audiobook formatting.

[Betsy Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked some of the research and information in this book, but the layout felt repetitive and much of it was common knowledge. The most helpful parts were the phrase suggestions and research references.

“Research shows that children who have screens in their rooms overnight have more sleep problems, view more disturbing content, and have more difficult relationships.”

If a kid’s friends are encouraging them to do things they don’t feel comfortable with, here are some things they could say:

“This isn’t my kind of thing.” “Let’s do something else instead.” “My parents would kill me if I did this.”

[Kimijo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is your 8–12-year old pushing for independence while navigating the first steps of puberty? What’s My Tween Thinking? offers evidence based answers to the everyday challenges of parenting during the “in-between years.” Parenting author Tanith Carey and child clinical psychologist Dr. Angharad Rudkin tackle 75 real life scenarios covering everything from “I hate you” moments to friendship dramas, school stress, body worries, and online safety. With practical strategies and expert insight, this handbook helps you stay connected with your tween while preparing both of you for the teenage years ahead.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a helpful book but I found much of the advice to be commonly known already as a parent of a ten year old. If I could give half stars, I’d rate it 3 1/2 stars.

[Oks Oriek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed quickly through the book. Some of it might be helpful, some is not so much.