Child Care Books - Page 4

The Wonder of Boys

Michael Gurian

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 79 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

lots of redundancy, but some useful advice 3 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

When my son was about to be born, I panicked, because I thought I would not know how to give a good upbringing to a boy. I have only a sister and my husband is an only child. We discussed the issue a lot and we sometimes had different views on how to deal with boys, to do everything to make our son happy and fulfilled. So - we decided to buy a book and chose "The Wonder of Boys".

The book is not bad, but it is not very good. First of all, there is nothing new in the notion that boys are different from girls and that testosterone is physiologically responsible for these obvious differences, boys being more competitive and aggressive etc. Many things described by the author are obvious and instinctive. I would be happy to see more scientific dissection of the differences, something similar to "Brain Sex" by Anne Moir and David Jessel (a really valuable book, by the way), but with the focus on children and the education of boys.
The "old-new" rules of the boys' education and need for the male presence in their lives, the importance of the group, sports and discipline, are nicely presented at the beginning, but later on the book gets very repetitive, full of redundant information and artificially blown out of proportion. Maybe the purpose was to make the reader memorize the rules subconsciously (after all, it is one of the therapy principles, I think). For me, it just made the book boring and I could not help thinking it would be much more useful in a form of an article or essay. It seems to me more like an introduction to Gurian's guidelines, more developed in his later books on various aspects of the boys' character and education.

There is some advice I found good there, though: the rules for disciplining the boys at different stages of life, the details of the father's role, the discussion on spanking, the teaching of morals and spirituality. I could do without superficial examples from the world cultures.

I did not find this book particularly challenging for feminism, on the contrary, I think it presents reasonably the roles of both parents and the methods for building the family life beneficial for the offspring, which happens to be male.

Altogether, I rate "The Wonder of Boys" at three stars, it is neither outstanding, nor hopeless, but the useful advice needs to be extracted from a lot of meaningless words and the book could only benefit from being more concise and to the point.

Editorial Review:

I n this edition of his parenting classic, Michael Gurian considers how the culture has changed in the ten years since The Wonder of Boys was first published, including the impact of the Internet.

The Toddlers Busy Book

Trish Kuffner

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 89 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

GREAT, Fun Ideas 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I love this book! I just pulled it out again because my 21-month-old daughter and I have gotten into a little bit of a rut. There's been a lot more TV time than I like. Going through here again to pick out some activities, I've noticed so many new things she wouldn't have enjoyed or understood when I bought this book several months ago. Things I dismissed at the time for this reason will now be perfect for her age and current interests. That's the best thing about "The Toddler's Busy Book." There is almost too much to do in there. There are simple ideas and more complex ones with some real planning involved. But since toddlers have a short attention span and are always challenging you to find fun and interesting new things, the vast resources in "The Toddler's Busy Book" will help keep activities fresh and exciting for your toddler (and you)!

Editorial Review:

365 fun, creative activities to stimulate your toddler every day of the year.

This book contains 365 activities (one for each day of the year) for one-and-a-half to three-year-olds using things found around the home. It shows parents and day-care providers how to:

• Prevent boredom during the longest stretches of indoor weather with ideas for indoor play, kitchen activities, and arts and crafts projects.

• Stimulate a child's natural curiosity with entertaining math, language, and motor-skills activities.

• Encourage a child's physical, mental, and emotional growth with ideas for fun music, food, water, and outdoor activities.

• Keep toddlers occupied during long car trips or cross-town errands.

The Toddler's Busy Book is written with warmth and sprinkled with humor and insight. It should be required reading for anyone raising or teaching toddlers.

The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child: With No Pills, No Therapy, No Contest of Wills

Alan E. Kazdin

Amazon Price: $17.16 List Price: $26.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $14.05

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A lifesaving handbook for parents of children who
are occasionally, or too often, "out of control"
Includes a bound-in twenty-minute DVD featuring
Dr. Kazdin and his staff illustrating key concepts of
the Kazdin Method
Most child-behavior books are filled with advice that
sounds reasonable, fits with what parents already
believe about child-rearing, and is—as Dr. Kazdin proves—
guaranteed to fail. The Kazdin Method for Parenting the
Defiant Child makes available to parents for the first time
Dr. Kazdin's proven program—one backed up by some of
the most long-term and respected research devoted to any
therapy for children.
Kazdin shatters decades' worth of accumulated myths
about tantrums, time-outs, punishments fitting the crime,
and much more.With the practicality of Ferber and the warmth
of Brazelton, Kazdin leads parents through every step of the
Kazdin Method in action—how to use tone of voice, when and
how to touch, how to lead your child in a "practice" session,
how to adjust your approach for different-age children, how to
involve siblings, and more.The program is temporary, but the
results are permanent—for very young children, adolescents,
and even beyond.

First Meals (New Expanded Edition)

Annabel Karmel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 173 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great book, great recipes! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I got this book prior to our son being born with the hope that I would be making all his food. I've now been doing so using this book and her Top 100 Purees for the last 5 months. I primarily use this book since we got past the most basic purees. I have made more than half of the recipes up through the 9-12 month section and every one of them has turned out great. There has only been one beef recipe that our son doesn't seem to care much for. I have to say too that I have tasted every recipe I've made and they are all delicious. I don't see how you could go wrong with it. I usually make a double or triple batch of each and freeze portions because the servings are typically small but when you buy the ingredients you usually have much more than they call for.

I have one other book that was given to me and is written by a gourmet couple. I tried two of their recipes and they were both a disaster. One I could salvage and the other I had to just throw away. You really can't go wrong with this book. The recipes are easy and the food is great and nutritious. I use a hand mixer to puree and it works well. Enjoy and have fun! Your babies will love it and will grow up with an appetite for all kinds of good food instead of just junk!

Editorial Review:

From first purees and delicious snacks to tempt toddlers with tiny appetites to imaginative and nutritious meals that the whole family can enjoy. First Meals includes more than 150 fully illustrated recipes, all of which have been tested on a panel of babies, toddlers, and young children.

Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons

Meg Meeker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

An excellent guide to raising happly boys who become healthy and productive men 5 out of 5 stars.
37 of 39 people found this review helpful.

As the father of three daughters, I really admired Meg Meeker's "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters". Since I also have three sons, I was happy to read her new book "Boys Should Be Boys". Note that her first book had 10 secrets every father should know. This book has 7 secrets to raising healthy sons. I guess boys are simpler creatures.

The main thrust of the book is that boys need to explore, test their limits, and this can often lead to scrapes, bruises, dirty clothes, and even a broken bone or two. However, in our obsession to protect boys from their natural tendencies, we cosset them in a toxic environment of video games, online pseudo relationships, sexual influences from TV, movies, and the Web, and give them everything but our personal time and attention. Then we wonder why they have ADHD, stunted emotional growth, and difficulty in transitioning to manhood. The point of the book is not to blame parents, but to alert them to the dangers, to what it is that boys need, and to help them realize the extra effort that must be applied to raising their sons in order to counter the awful societal influences that are drowning our boys.

The book has twelve chapters and the first is an overview of this problem. The next seven go over the seven areas we need to pay attention to in raising our sons and grandsons. The second chapter discusses that we need to help our boys through the difficulties of peer pressure. While this is true in every generation, since our time is particularly toxic towards boys we need to be very careful about the influences and values being taught to them. The third discusses the natural tendency of boys to explore the woods, climb trees, play rough sports, and other `dangerous' activities. This is what boys SHOULD be doing. Meeker points out the health neighborhood games when teams are formed with boys of different ages and they have to work out leadership and test their limits versus the packaged formal team sports where every boy is the same age and the parents run everything including protecting the boys from winning and losing.

The fourth chapter explores the dangers of boys getting lost in the world of electronics. While there is nothing wrong with computers, iPods, or other electronic devices in and of themselves, there are very bad influences there that they need to be kept from. They also must not be allowed to become addicted to them and the influences they can find there. Spending vast numbers of hours on video games, online `relationships', and who knows what else, is a very bad thing for growing boys. They need real world friends, experiences, and skill development - especially social skills.

The fifth deals with societal animosity towards teenage boys. I know some will scream that this is not true because they are thinking of the kind of moody, depressed, and angry boy they have created and then want to fix. This kind of moody teenager is much more a media creation and now a societal reality than it should be in the real world. Yes, depression is very serious and should be treated by competent medical doctors, but if you raise healthy boys that experience healthy activities and friends, they will be much less likely to develop these problems.

The sixth tells you the true way to build self-confidence and mental health. You encourage them at all times (praise should dominate criticism ten statements to one). You should also help them, train them, and show them activities they can master. The feeling of accomplishment is a powerful emotional resource builder. And you help them get into competitive experiences and especially those where they can taste winning more than losing. Viewing themselves as winners and knowing that feeling is also a powerful force as they move through life.

The seventh chapter examines the role of mothers in a son's life and the necessity of the unconditional love a mother provides. She is his defender, will praise him when no one else will, and comforts him when he does feel defeated. The eighth is the strength a dad provides when he participates in a son's life in a real and present way. Providing an example of the virtues you want your boy to have is essential. Setting high standards for him that you model and support him developing (through encouragement, not criticism) is essential.

Chapter nine shows us why so many men are just older boys. They never made that difficult step of transitioning from being boys to men. This is a stage they must be helped through and having a role model of a good man (the father) to emulate along with providing a loving expectation that they must make the transition is critical to supporting them taking that difficult step.

Personally, I think chapter ten is one our society should pay very close attention to. Too many families stay away from Church. Oh, they may say they are of this or that faith, but they don't get involved as a family that makes their faith a part of their everyday lives. By helping your boy develop a strong faith in God you will help him build reserves of hope, an understanding of love beyond the erotic, the importance of truth, an understanding of repentance and forgiveness, and a security in the unfolding of his life. No, you can't just send them to church and think you have done your job.

Chapter eleven examines the some other core virtues we want our men to have so they must develop them as boys. These virtues are integrity, courage, humility, meekness, and kindness. Just because we want the boys to be strong and confident does not mean we want them to be blustering bullies.

Meeker ends the book with a chapter listing ten tips.
1) Know that you change his world
2) Raise him from the inside out (worry about his inner life and the outer life will follow)
3) Help his masculinity to explode
4) Help him find purpose and passion (other than being a video game master)
5) Teach him to serve (this is where Church can come in handy)
6) Insist on self-respect
7) Persevere
8) Be his hero
9) Watch, then watch again (pay close attention to what is going on in his life)
10) Give him the best of yourself (not just the leftovers)

An excellent book that I highly recommend.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Here is her book on Fathers and Daughters:
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know

Editorial Review:

What are little boys made of? It used to be frogs, snails, and puppy dog tails, but today it is MTV, ADD, and STDs. So how do parents raise their sons to be respectful and responsible young men despite a toxic culture that relentlessly undermines masculine virtues such as moral strength, self-restraint, and respect for women? By letting boys be boys. Dr. Meg Meeker, bestselling author of Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, follows up her success with Boys Should Be Boys--a guide for parents on how to raise a strong son in these turbulent times. Taking readers on a journey from boyhood to manhood, Boys Should Be Boys delves into the mind, heart, and spirit of boys, showing parents how they can make a difference between the boy their son is and the man he will become. "Boys will be boys"--Dr.Meeker shows why it is not just an expression, it's a necessity.

Good Night Sleep Tight: The Sleep Ladys Gentle Guide to Helping Your Child Go to Sleep, Stay Asleep, and Wake Up Happy

Kim West, Joanne Kenen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 110 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good but a bit maddening 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

There's some excellent advice in this book and I recommend it with one caveat: the sections on the early months were incredibly frustrating. They didn't address a common difficulty with infants under 12 weeks -- namely, that many want to be held ALL THE TIME and won't nap unless they're in your arms or otherwise next to your body. The suggestions West has for this age (putting the infant down drowsy but awake) simply won't work for a good number of babies until they've had a bit more time to mature. Parents facing this difficulty should just wait a bit and keep trying. It would have saved me a lot of headaches and worry if I had known...

Editorial Review:

Kim West has worked one-on-one with thousands of people in more than ten years of private practice. Her amazing success with getting kids to sleep has led her clients to dub her The Sleep Lady. Good Night, Sleep Tight outlines Kim’s proven two-week technique in easy-to-follow language, featuring case studies that give readers real-life examples of the sleep roadblocks children often encounter-and the tools to overcome them. Kim has appeared on “Dr. Phil,” the “Today” show, “NBC Nightly News,” CNN and “Good Morning America.”

The Blessing Of A Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children

Wendy Mogel

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Not yet published By: Scribner

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the trenches of a typical day, every parent encounters a child afflicted with ingratitude and entitlement. In a world where material abundance abounds, parents want so badly to raise self-disciplined, appreciative, and resourceful children who are not spoiled by the plentitude around them. But how to accomplish this feat? The answer has eluded the best-intentioned mothers and fathers who overprotect, overindulge, and overschedule their children's lives.

Dr. Mogel helps parents learn how to turn their children's worst traits into their greatest attributes. Starting with stories of everyday parenting problems and examining them through the lens of the Torah, the Talmud, and important Jewish teachings, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee shows parents how to teach children to honor their parents and to respect others, escape the danger of overvaluing children's need for self-expression so that their kids don't become "little attorneys," accept that their children are both ordinary and unique, and treasure the power and holiness of the present moment.

It is Mogel's singular achievement that she makes these teachings relevant for any era and any household of any faith. A unique parenting book, designed for use both in the home and in parenting classes, with an on-line teaching guide to help facilitate its use, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee is both inspiring and effective in the day-to-day challenge of raising self-reliant children.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth

Henci Goer, Rhonda Wheeler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 169 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The newest procedures. The latest information. The complete rundown on modern pregnancy and childbirth...for women who want the facts.

Every intelligent, informed woman is used to gathering the most complete information she can get before making a decision. But when it comes to one of the most important decisions in her life--how she will give birth--it can be tough to get the complete picture, even from an obstetrician. Surprisingly, much of the latest research goes against common medical opinion. Certified Lamaze instructor and activist Henci Goer brings women the carefully researched facts they'll want to have. Based on the latest medical studies and literature, The Thinking Woman's Guide To A Better Birth offers clear, concise information on tests, procedures and treatments--and gives advice about:* cesareans * ultrasound * gestational diabetes * breech babies * inducing labor * IVs * electronic fetal monitoring * ruptured membranes * epidurals * episiotomies * vaginal birth after a cesarean * midwives and obstetricians * alternative birthing methods * choosing a birth location * drugs and delivery * elective induction * professional labor support * and much more

* Author is a certified Lamaze instructor and doula who counsels women on their childbirth experiences
* Author belongs to the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services
* Drawn upon the most up-to-date medical literature and studies
* Written in an accessible, understandable style, explaining technical medical terms
* Gives advice to women who were dissatisfied with their first birth experience

On Becoming Toddlerwise (On Becoming. . .)

Gary Ezzo

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 46 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From First Steps to Potty Training There is no greater fulfillment a parent can receive than the upturned face of a toddler, eyes speaking wonders and a face of confidence in discovering a brand new world with Mom and Dad. In just over a year, the helpless infant emerges as a little moving, talking, walking, exploratory person marked by keen senses, clear memory, quick perceptions and unlimited energy. He emerges into a period of life know affectionately as the Toddler Years. How ready are you for this new experience?The toddler years are the learning fields and you need a trustworthy guide to take you through the unfolding maze of your child's developing world. On Becoming Toddlerwise is a tool chest of workable strategies and ideas that multiplies your child's learning opportunities in a loving and nurturing way. This resource is as practical as it is informative.With over two million homes to their credit, trusted parenting authors Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam bring their collective wisdom, experience, and insights to bear on this critical phase of growth and development. From first steps to potty training made easy and everything in between, it is all here for you.

Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men

Leonard Sax

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Something scary is happening to boys today. From kindergarten to college, they are less resilient and less ambitious than they were a mere twenty years ago. As for young men, it turns out the film Failure to Launch is not far from the truth. Fully one-third of men ages 22-34 are still living at home with their parents-about a 100 percent increase in the past twenty years. Boys nationwide are increasingly dropping out of school; fewer are going to college; and for the first time in American history, women are outnumbering men at undergraduate institutions three to two. Parents, teachers, and mental health professionals are worried about boys. But until now, no one has come up with good reasons for their decline-and, more important, with workable solutions to reverse this troubling trend. Now, family physician and research psychologist Dr. Leonard Sax delves into the scientific literature and draws on his vast clinical experience to propose an entirely original view of why boys and young men are failing in school and at home. He argues that a combination of social, cultural, and biological factors is creating an environment that is literally toxic to boys, ranging from environmental estrogens to the over-prescription of ADHD drugs. And he presents practical solutions-from new ways of controlling boys’ use of video games, to innovative (and workable) education reforms.