It is with extreme pleasure that I write a review of this outstanding text, and also pride that I was selected to be the reviewer. When Dr. Lezak mailed me the book with a request to write a review for JINS, I literally called her and thanked her for this opportunity. I should note, this was not because I would receive a complimentary copy of The Neuropsychological Evaluation of the Child, as I had already purchased and read the text, and ordered an additional copy for my clinic and trainees' access. Dr. Baron has provided those of us in the field of child/pediatric neuropsychology with has long been needed: a general background on clinical issues in conducting neurocognitive assessments with children and adolescents, along with practical matters and concerns, such as how to cope with the varying needs of different referral sources, and providing feedback to parents. Moreover, and most essential, the text comprehensively reviews neuropsychological measures under all cognitive domains, and presents exhaustively researched historical and current normative data for the developmental population. This compilation is an excellently written book that is comprehensive, detailed, current, thoughtful, and an invaluable reference for every child and pediatric neuropsychologist. Indeed, our colleagues who specialize in adult neuropsychological evaluations would well benefit from reading the text because the clinical insights are germane to all ages, and the normative data will enrich their understanding of brain function and progression throughout the development years.

I will briefly outline the structure and content of The Neuropsychological Evaluation of the Child. The text begins with a discussion of how one encounters many different referral sources in the field of child neuropsychology. Pediatricians, school personnel, parents, pediatric neurologists, and other pediatric medical specialists will all request neuropsychological evaluations. Each source will have individual and varying aims, goals, and questions. Thus, it is appropriately emphasized that one needs to closely attend to the referral source when considering the structure of the evaluation, and reporting of results. Pragmatic and logistic issues are addressed. Chapter 2 discusses important practical and clinical concerns such as the environment in which testing should occur, scheduling, and establishing rapport with the child/adolescent. An added bonus is the inclusion of a structured parent interview that will provide the child neuropsychologist with an excellent template for recording history and family information. The next chapter addresses how one communicates results, both within the format of a written report, and also during interpretive/feedback sessions with the parents. In this section Dr. Baron shares with us her lessons from extensive clinical experience, as well as her professional child neuropsychological assessment and diagnostic acumen. The remainder of the text is devoted to cognitive domains and the presentation of normative data. Descriptions of virtually every neuropsychological test appropriate for children and adolescents are presented, and the corresponding normative data are rich and indispensable. Following an outline of approaches to domain assessment, measures of intelligence are described with relevant reliability and validity information, along with appropriate normative considerations. I found this brief review to be extremely clinically useful and practical. Unfortunately, the 4th version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children is not included in this section due to its recent publication. Dr. Baron then proceeds to evaluate tests by neurocognitive domain, and on an extremely refreshing note, this is not done in a rote manner. In addition to listing available tests under each domain along with relevant normative data, if not supplied by the test publisher, theoretical considerations have been addressed. For example, under the first domain, executive function, the chapter begins with a discussion on the construct of executive functions in general, subdomains, and relevance over the developmental span. The following neurocognitive domains are then reviewed: attention, language, motor and sensory/perceptual examinations, visuoperceptual, visuospatial and visuoconstructional functions, and finally learning and memory. While recently published, over the past year, and revised test batteries are not reviewed by the text, in accord with publishing and timing demands, this is an unavoidable concern that will undoubtedly be addressed in a future revision of The Neuropsychological Evaluation of the Child. Quite plainly, the child clinical neuropsychologist has at his/her fingers a wealth of practical clinical advice, psychometric information, normative data, and test interpretative knowledge that will clearly aid the patient and his/her parents in the formulation of appropriate treatment recommendations and planning.

This text has obviously been a labor of love for Dr. Baron. Her efforts have resulted in a product that has set the gold standard for clinically relevant manuals directed towards child/pediatric neuropsychologists. This book should be on every clinical neuropsychologist's shelf. As noted earlier, even my adult colleagues will benefit from the extensive references, adroit clinical information, and the vast knowledge presented on neurodevelopmental progression over the childhood and adolescent years. A text that was long needed has arrived, and it does not disappoint. I found no flaws in this work. I would, however, like to suggest to the author that in further editions she consider including measures of behavior and psychopathology. A thorough child/pediatric neuropsychological evaluation will include assessments of behavioral and psychological functioning, and there are numerous other and self-report measures for the developmental population. Additionally, issues regarding parent versus teacher observations are very relevant to the interpretative process in a neuropsychological evaluation, and also have important treatment implications. While addressing the behavioral spectrum will enlarge the text, and also the demands on the author, it will greatly amplify the clinical utility of the text. I am already eagerly anticipating the 2nd edition of The Neuropsychological Evaluation of the Child. If you specialize in child/pediatric neuropsychology, purchase this text immediately, read it and use it, and if you happen to see Dr. Baron at one of our conferences/meetings, thank her.