Noting that recent advances in neuroscience and psychology make it possible to understand more clearly how parents help to shape their children's brain development, this book discusses what is becoming known about how young children acquire language, develop emotional ties, gain control of their own emotions, become able to experience the joy and pain of others, and embrace moral values. The first chapter, "How the Brain Takes Shape," discusses the basics of brain organization. The next three chapters, "The House of Meaning,""Pathways of Language," and "How Much Help Does a Baby Need," explore the interplay of biological and social links in language acquisition. The next four chapters, "Language of the Heart,""I and Thou: Emotional Relationship and the Discovery of Self,""Empathy, Conscience, and Moral Development," and "Children's Anger and Adult Violence," examine similar processes in the development of a child's capacity for emotional expression and self-control. The final two chapters, "Beating the Odds" and "Caring for Children," emphasize the cultural, political, and economic factors that affect the care of children. The book concludes with "Summing Up: Shaping the Mind," which notes that the development of children's intellect is inseparable from their emotional and moral development. (Contains 141 references.) (LPP)