Manny Rayner's book reviews

As you may have noticed, I've recently become interested in the paradoxical Flynn Effect. IQ scores have been steadily climbing as far back as one can trace the records, but people don't seem smarter. Flynn, the man who discovered it, is baffled. "Why aren't we surprised by the extraordinary intelligence and subtlety of our children's conversation?" he asks in his recent book. It's an obvious question.

Reading Ainsi va la vie, currently the most popular French series for small kids, it does cross my mind to wonder whether it's because children are careful not to display their excessive intelligence when adults are around. This book opens with the family sitting on the beach. It's their last day of vacation, and Lili is hopping mad - Mom won't let her swim, because she disobeyed orders and went out past the warning buoys the day before. She complains to her brother that this is too damn much, she can't accept any more of this bad parenting! Indeed, the parents don't seem to be on top form. Paul is absent-mindedly checking out the cute chicks in bikinis and barely listening to his wife, who reacts by throwing a minor tantrum. You can understand why Lili is concerned.

If the book were aimed at adults, I'd immediately read it as satirical. Lili complains to Max that they've been giving Mom and Dad an easy ride. They're so concerned about hurting their feelings that they pretend to behave like model kids. They should open up and tell them what they're doing wrong, then the adults would have a chance to do something about it. In a word, educate them! Hm, says Max, good idea. But we need a strategy, right? They decide to go to the grandparents and ask for advice. After all, if the parents are so fucked up, then it must be the previous generation's fault?

Grandma and grandpa aren't much help. "We have such wonderful grandchildren!" says Grandma kindly. "It must be because their parents are wonderful too!"

"Especially our son!" adds Grandpa. The kids leave in disgust. "They've obviously been overprotective!" says Lili. "No wonder he's turned out the way he has. And they're still doing it!"

But when Lili and Max talk with their friends, they decide they've been too harsh. The other kids seem to have even worse problems. We hear about parents who fight, drink and beat their children. Okay, that kind of stuff has occasionally happened to Lili and Max too, but not much, and not recently. They all agree that depressive parents are the worst kind. "Though mine aren't quite as bad now they're getting psychiatric help!" says one girl, doing her best to put a positive spin on it.

Lili goes back and tells Mom and Dad that she's letting them off for now. They're better than she'd realised. "Shit!" groans Max. "You backed down again!" But Lili's really been thinking. "I dunno," she says. "Maybe they're right. When I'm a mom, I figure I'll be strict as well. It's the best policy."

As you can see, I found this book very amusing. But I'm surprised that small children can appreciate it - the core demographic for this series is supposed to be 5 to 8 years old. Are kids getting smarter?