Gifted children · High Intellectual Potential
A gifted child has very high cognitive ability. Identifying that ability can matter, but the next challenge is helping the child understand themselves, use their strengths, cope with school and relationships, and grow without turning giftedness into a burden or a demand for constant achievement.
I am Luc MARTRENCHAR, a clinical psychologist specializing in High Potential assessment. This is my ranked selection of the books I would recommend first to parents and gifted young people.
This is my strongest all-round parent recommendation. It covers giftedness, communication, motivation, underachievement, discipline, perfectionism, stress, peers, school fit and twice-exceptionality.
Its great strength is breadth: it helps parents understand the whole child rather than reducing giftedness to grades or achievement.
Gifted children are much more than test scores. This book focuses directly on their social and emotional needs, including perfectionism, anxiety, self-esteem, belonging and underachievement.
I rank it very highly because it keeps the child behind the performance in view.
James Delisle writes in a direct, parent-friendly way about raising gifted children without turning high ability into constant pressure to achieve.
It is especially useful for everyday expectations, family relationships and keeping giftedness in perspective.
This is the unique title in the Top 5 because it can be read by the gifted child or young teenager directly. It helps young people understand giftedness, school, friendships, expectations and the feeling of being different.
Giving a child language for their own experience can be just as important as educating the adults around them.
This book explores the sensitivity, excitability and emotional development often discussed in relation to gifted children, adolescents and adults.
It is more theoretical than the titles above, but particularly valuable when emotional intensity is one of the most striking aspects of the child's profile.
Recognizing your child in a book cannot establish High Intellectual Potential.
Find out how likely you are to have High Emotional Potential!
Are you a “zebra”?
Are you highly sensitive?