Borba, Michele. Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach Kids To Do the Right Thing. Jossey-Bass. Jul. 2001. c.310p. index. ISBN 0-7879-5357-1. $24.95. CHILD REARING
Writing with confident authority and providing good, current references, Borba offers “a step by step blueprint for enhancing your child’s moral capacity”–the ethical compass that charts a youngster’s moral fate. She first defines seven intertwining “essential virtues of moral intelligence and solid character”: empathy, conscience, self-control (these first three form a “moral core”), respect, kindness, tolerance, and fairness. Ensuing chapters suggest how to incubate, nurture, and master individual virtues using realistic, workable methods. The book recalls Becky A. Bailey’s Easy To Love, Difficult To Discipline (LJ 2/15/00), which frames “loving guidance” in seven-part structures (seven values for living, seven powers of self control, etc.). It’s also similar to Borba’s own Parents Do Make a Difference (Jossey-Bass, 1999). All these books have noble goals yet require a high initial investment of energy and time; this is not a quick fix but a way of living. Of course, many of those who really need Borba’s book won’t read it; if more people mastered these traits, the world would be a different and better place. Recommended for larger public libraries.
This review appeared in Library Journal 126.12, July 2001 on page 116. The galley was recycled on Jnuary 18, 2012.
