The Complete Playground Book
Brett, Arlene and Moore, Robin C. and Provenzo, Eugene F., Jr. (1993).
Syracuse: Syracuse University Press; 206 pages. $29.95 (cloth); 16.95 paper. ISBN 0815602715.
This is a useful general book on children’s playgrounds. In looking at these facilities, it identifies correctly the lack of research even though this is the area in which the majority of finance available for children's play is spent.
After 150 years of playgrounds, we know little about their use and value. We provide equipment but are unsure on whether it works in terms of child development and we provide surfacing without knowing if it greatly improves safety or even if it will last more than five years. We have a multi-million dollar market which has little idea if the product is of any use.
Innovative facilities are considered but I would like to have seen a stronger emphasis specifically on the improvement in the quality of these playgrounds as a result of the employment of playworkers. More generally, the idea of process in the provision of playgrounds should have been introduced.
One of the strengths of the book lies in the playground examples from other countries contributed by Robin Moore. One of the weaknesses is one common to many American publications in the field -a failure to look at international research. The Notes section suggests no research of any importance takes place outside of the U.S. That may be true, but what research does exist should have been read before coming to that conclusion. The play equipment market is becoming increasingly international -our response to it and understanding of it needs to reflect this. This is especially true of safety issues which, in this book, are handled too simplistically to be of any real value.
Reviewer Information