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Humans

Weary parents shouldn't miss this science-backed guide to raising kids

Most parenting manuals end up gathering dust on my bedside table, but Melinda Wenner Moyer's Hello, Cruel World! isn’t one of them

By Catherine de Lange

21 May 2025

2HXRJ2C A young child stands at edge of calm pool with clouds over hills

One of a child’s most important jobs is to make sense of the world

Cavan Images/Alamy

Hello, Cruel World!
Melinda Wenner Moyer (Headline Home (UK); G.P. Putnam’s Sons (US))

The unfortunate thing about parenting books is that, in my experience, once you become a parent you are too time-poor and exhausted to read them. As a result, my bedside table is stacked with parenting manuals of which I’ve read the first five pages a dozen times before passing out.

If this sounds like you, the latest book by science journalist Melinda Wenner Moyer should be top of your pile. …

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