Sidonie Matzner Gruenberg attempts to explain the nature of children in a concise manner for non-professional people. If a parent can understand the stages a child is passing though, the child will be happier and the parent will be better able to help his child become an effective adult. Gruenberg says, "We cannot expect the children, with their limited experience and their undeveloped intellect, to understand us; if we are to have harmony, intimacy and cooperation, these must come through the parents' successful efforts at understanding the children." The Table of Contents includes You and Your Child, The Problem of Punishment, When Your Child Imagines Things, The Lies Children Tell, Being Afraid, The First Great Law, The Training of the Will, How children Reason, Work and Play, Children's Gangs, Clubs and Friendships, The Stork or the Truth, The Golden Age of Transition, Heredity and Environment, and Freedom and Discipline.