How children succeed : grit, curiosity, and the hidden power of character

Summary: The author argues that the qualities that matter most for success have more to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism, and self-control. Through the stories of researchers and educators, and the stories of the children they are trying to help, the author traces the links between childhood stress and life success. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do, and do not, prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to help children growing up in poverty. Early adversity, scientists have come to understand, can not only affect the conditions of children's lives, it can alter the physical development of their brains as well. But now educators and doctors around the country are using that knowledge to develop innovative interventions that allow children to overcome the constraints of poverty.