Book three: Free-Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy

Ms. Skenazy, otherwise known as the woman who put her child in danger when she gave him a subway pass and map and the opportunity to learn how to navigate the city, writes a very engaging, full of humor but also good tips book on how to raise safe and self-reliant children in today's worrisome times. Turns out, in a lot of ways things are much safer than they were when we were younger. We, usually because of the way in which media chooses to report on issues, are over-concerned about a lot of hazardous, dangerous things that will most likely NEVER HAPPEN. For instance, in a 2002 report by the Department of Agriculture it was determined that salmonella is present in 0.003 percent of the sixty-nine billion eggs produced. That's about one egg in every 30,000. And the odds of dying from this diarrhea-producing disease, 0.05 percent. From 1985 to 1998, about six people per year, out of three hundred million, died. What this says to me is that it is completely okay to let Hen taste the cookie batter.