One of the books I’ve recently helped with (I was the copy editor) has just gone on sale: Music Makes Your Child Smarter, by Philip Sheppard. It was fun to edit, and should be fun to read too :)

So does music make your child smarter? Yes, provided you don’t fall for the Beethoven Effect bullshit [which the book merrily takes an axe to]. Playing Beethoven won’t turn a foetus into the next Bill Gates, but there do seem to be definite benefits from musical activities in terms of a child’s development – particularly before the age of seven.

The Mail on Sunday (my favourite paper, heh) describes it as “A fantastic self-help guide for parents – I very strongly recommend it to everyone.” As for Mr Sheppard, here’s the bio:

Philip Sheppard is Professor of ’Cello at the Royal Academy of Music, London; he is also a Senior Lecturer in ‘Principles Of Education’ and designed the Academy’s ‘Music In The Community’ course. He is a guest lecturer at the Royal College Of Music and patron of the Oxford ’Cello School. Philip directs education projects at the Harlem Center in New York and has appeared as a guest presenter on BBC4’s Proms coverage. He has played at Glastonbury and recorded with artists including Scott Walker and David Bowie. He has three young children.