Book Reviews

Welcome to Evolved Nest's book reviews! My name is Dr. Darcia Narvaez and I’m here with Mary Tarsha. We are both at the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Psychology and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

In these book review podcasts, we discuss books aimed at parents and how they align or not with humanity’s evolved nest and with child thriving. First a quick review of the evolved nest.

Humans evolved to be nested. Humanity’s nest for young children helps optimize children's development, fostering thriving, flourishing and resilience capacities in children of all ages. The evolved nest includes soothing gestation and birth, on-request extensive breastfeeding and positive moving touch (no negative touch), a welcoming social climate, self-directed play with multiple aged mates, warmly responsive nurturing from mother and others, Nature immersion and connection, and healing practices to repair miscommunication or hurts.

Child thriving includes Physical health, Happiness and wellbeing, Self-acceptance and appreciation, Self control, Emotional Intelligence, Sociality & social skills, Empathy, Perspective taking, Kindness, and Active curiosity.

See the checklists for what to look for in a nested life in early childhood, childhood, and adulthood here. You can also discover more about the Evolved Nest's nine components in our Self-Directed Learning Center.