Am I a Normal Parent? Sara Dimerman, $18.95

If you have ever wondered how you compare to other parents, you are not alone. The thoughts, feelings, behaviors and concerns you have are common to parents everywhere. Author Sara Dimerman looks at issues like parental guilt, regrets, intrusive parenting, letting-go, family history and more — and along the way she shares the stories of parents and offers the reassurance you’ve been looking for.

Be a Happier Parent with NLP: the Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting. Judy Bartkowiak, $17.95

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a coaching therapy that teaches us new ways of looking at and managing how we communicate, deal with conflict, negotiate, access our skills and resources, cope with loss and grief and manage change. And NLP is ideal for working with children to develop their confidence, internal referencing and communication skills.

Be a Happier Parent with NLP can help you teach your children how to use these tools in their everyday life and teach you how to use NLP as the key to calm, confident parenting.

When parents feel separated from their sons by a curtain of silence or a wall of resistance, they're right to be concerned. Boys of few words, the ones who limit their expression to a timid shrug or an indifferent grunt, need our help. Whether the problem is rooted in "nature" or "nurture," boys who grow up unable to talk about their thoughts and feelings find it hard to connect with others at school, home, and eventually in business and personal relationships. Mothers and fathers everywhere will see their own boys in this book, and will come away prepared to help them overcome obstacles, connect with others, and succeed in school and beyond.

Author Richard Munger makes the case that the environments in which a child lives, plays, and studies are even more important than personality in shaping that child's behavior. So, he says, making changes in the people, places, and activities in a child's life can have profound effects on his or her behavior … These settings and the presence of interesting, challenging activities and adult mentors in them can make a big difference in helping children develop into motivated, compassionate, and competent adults.

Common Sense Parenting: Using Your Head as Well as Your Heart to Raise School-Aged Children, CD Set. Ray Burke, Ron Herron & Bridget Barnes, $24.95 Audio CD format, 5 discs

This audio book helps parents of children ages six to sixteen facing a myriad of family challenges. It provides you with a menu of proven parenting techniques that build good family relationships, prevent and correct misbehavior, use consequences to improve behavior, teach self-control, and help you and your child stay calm in emotionally intense situations.

Connected Parenting: How to Raise a Great Kid. Jennifer Kolari, $19.00

Connected Parenting offers a unique form of therapeutic parenting based on Kolari's groundbreaking application of the concept of "mirroring," an instinctive process that helps parents bond with their children and promotes optimum growth and development. Kolari's strategy is highly effective for kids of all ages, and has been proven to reduce a child's anxiety, increase self-esteem, and allow children to become more resilient and flexible. With step-by-step advice and examples from Kolari's years of experience, this is an easy-to-follow guide to strengthening the bond between you and your children.

Dealing with Disappointment: Helping Kids Cope When Things Don't Go Their Way. Elizabeth Crary, $15.95

This practical, easy-to-read guide walks parents through the concept of emotional competency, which begins by teaching children to identify and acknowledge their feelings. It provides exercises and examples that demonstrate how children — even toddlers — can cope with their emotions, using self-calming techniques (exercise or a few minutes with a favorite book, for example) and problem-solving tools. Parents who to often find themselves overwhelmed by frustrated children will appreciate the step-by-step recommendations.

Digestive Wellness for Children. Elizabeth Lipski, $22.95

Digestive Wellness for Children is a primer for all parents who are interested in learning about, and actively supporting, their children’s digestive health. It provides practical instructions for keeping children healthy, for healing them when they aren’t, and for feeding them healthful foods that will provide the nutrients they need to stay well and strong from infancy through the teen years.

Dig Your Hands in the Dirt: a Manual for Making Art Out of Earth. Kiko Denzer, $16.50

Brief, elegant, and generously illustrated with drawings and 32 pages of color photos, this is a book for teachers, parents, builders, artists, and kids of all ages. Looking past the pictures of giddy, muddy fun, Dig Your Hands in the Dirt offers substantial and serious inspiration and practical lessons for artists, teachers, students, and designers, as well as builders interested in natural materials like adobe and its British counterpart, "cob."

Enriching the Brain: How to Maximize Every Learner's Potential. Eric Jensen, $29.99

Drawing from a wide range of neuroscience research and related studies, Eric Jensen, a leading expert in the translation of brain research into education, offers a powerful new understanding of how the brain can be “enriched”. Enriching the Brain offers an inspiring and innovative set of practices for promoting enrichment in the home, the school, and the classroom that will maximize learning, memory, behavior and overall function. Enriching the Brain gives parents, teachers and policymakers the tools they need for taking their role as ‘brain shapers’ much more seriously.

Fun on the Run! 324 Instant Family Activities. Cynthia Copeland, $11.95

This book offers the perfect antidotes to boring car rides, the long wait at the doctor's office, restless restaurant moments and supermarket meltdowns. Hundreds of quick games and activities to roll out at a moment's notice are to be found in this compact little volume, including tips for parents when waiting for kids to finish that ballet class or hockey game!

Girls Will Be Girls: Raising Confident and Courageous Daughters. JoAnn Deak, with Teresa Barker, $19.99

Deak, an associate of Carol Gilligan, and expert on brain development, learning environments and gender issues, has written a balanced, insightful and energizing study of the progress of girls 6-16. "Girls Will Be Girls offers parents humor, understanding, parenting philosophy, and well-founded pearls of wisdom. It is a satisfying and delicious read." -Michael Thompson, coauthor of Raising Cain.

Growing Up! A Parent’s Guide to Childhood. Edited by Kate Cronan, $22.95

Practical advice and information on parenting children ages three to 14.

Help! Around the House: a Mother’s Guide to Getting the Family to Pitch in and Clean Up. Don Aslett, $13.95

With this clever, groundbreaking guide, parents no longer have to spend their time and energy cleaning house and picking up after the kids. This essential home-care book outlines specific strategies that really work, including how to:

• Involve the entire family, from the baby to the Big Guy
• Teach kids the basics of cleaning and clutter control
• Make clean-up fun
• Win over everyone — from the rebellious adolescent to the tenacious toddler
• Get those most critical jobs and chores done, no matter how busy you all are
• Cut maintenance to a minimum

Introverted children are often creative problem solvers, avid learners, have a high EQ (emotional IQ), are in touch with their feelings and they enjoy their own company. They are dependable, persistent and flexible. How can parents help their introverted children discover and cultivate these wonderful gifts?

The Hidden Gifts shows parents how to foster a climate that allows introverted kids to discover their inner strengths; to create a harmonious household with siblings and parents of different temperaments and how to help ‘innies’ find success at school, sports, parties, and other group activities.

A practical, down-to-earth guide to finding the right balance between helping and indulging your kids. Learn how giving children too much, over-nurturing them and lack of structure prevents them from learning important life skills. Overindulgence comes from having a good heart but the results don't benefit children. How Much is Enough? provides parents with effective and loving ways to put your children on track for good self-esteem, self discipline and a successful life.

How to Help Children Find the Champion Within Themselves. David Hemery, $18.95

Listening attentively and asking questions are at the heart of successful mentoring for children and young people. In his new parenting and coaching book, Olympic Gold medalist David Hemery shows that questions, rather than instructions and commands, can help to grow self-awareness and confidence in children as they are asked to take an active role in their development, whether it's to coach them for after-school sports or to help them with their homework. For parents, grandparents, coaches, teachers, group leaders and anyone keen to enhance their communication and relationship with children in order to motivate and inspire them.

How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of the Tween Years. Julie Ross, $18.95

In How to Hug a Porcupine, parent educator Julie Ross offers specific strategies for dealing with peer pressure, raging hormones, mood swings, body image, computer use and sibling rivalry. The author’s field-tested techniques help parents shift from a controlling to a relationship approach — proving that it is possible to hug a porcupine, once one knows how.

The Hurried Child: Growing Up To Fast Too Soon, 25th Anniversary Edition. David Elkind, $16.95

With the first edition of The Hurried Child, David Elkind emerged as the voice of reason, calling our attention to the crippling effects of hurrying our children through life. He showed that by blurring the boundaries of what is age appropriate, by expecting or imposing too much too soon, we force our kids to grow up too fast, to mimic adult sophistication while secretly yearning for innocence. Since this book first appeared, new generations of parents have inadvertently stepped up the assault on childhood - in the media, in schools, and at home … the Internet, classroom culture, school violence, movies, television, and a growing societal incivility … In this twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the book, Dr. Elkind delivers important new commentary to put a quarter century of trends and change into perspective for parents today.

A practical and informative handbook …filled with examples of everyday problem situations and concerns…provides guidelines to help parents deal…with behavioral problems of children aged 3-8 years.

Webster-Stratton's book is frequently used as the basic text in parent education groups.

Just Because It Isn’t Wrong Doesn’t Make It Right: Teaching Kids To Think and Act Ethically. Barbara Coloroso, $22.00

In her now-classic ‘kids are worth it!’ Barbara Coloroso’s underlying parenting vision ascribed to parents the responsibility to teach the next generation how to think, not just what to think, so that they may grow into the best people they can be.

Now, in this groundbreaking new book—a natural extension and a profound deepening of her original vision—Coloroso shows parents how to nurture their children’s ethical lives, from preschool through adolescence.

There can be no more necessary book for our times.We live in a world where children are so often given the message that the ends justify the means; where harmful, even violent behavior—in families, in communities, and around the world—goes unnoticed, unmitigated, and often unrepented; where children’s ethical education can come from a T-shirt slogan or bumper sticker, an Internet site, or the evening news; where rigid moral absolutism or moral relativism has replaced true ethical thinking. In a world such as ours, Just Because It’s Not Wrong Doesn’t Make It Right is an essential tool.

Rich in advice and anecdotes, Barbara Coloroso offers no less than an ethical vision, one rooted in deep caring, by which we and succeeding generations may not only live, but thrive.

Keys to Parenting Your Anxious Child, 2nd Edition. Katharina Manassis, $10.99

Still the most-popular, accessible and comprehensive guide to the entire range of childhood anxieties, the specific problem behaviours associated with anxiety, and the appropriate strategies for supporting anxious children.

Kids Who Think Outside the Box: Helping Your Unique Child Thrive in a Cookie-Cutter World. Stephanie Lerner, $17.00

What were today's leaders like as children and teens, and what brought out their incredible talents? In this unusual book, 22 achievers from such diverse fields as business, science, technology, the arts, sports, education and politics talk about their own early experiences, offering candid insights on mentoring and empowering children with high potential. First person narratives include:

• Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney
• Rachael Scdoris, athlete, Iditarod Race competitor
• Producer and actor Spike Lee
• Hockey legend Rod Gilbert
• Artist, filmmaker, teacher Christine Choy
• Dr. Mehmet Oz , world-renowned heart surgeon
• Naturalist and South Pole explorer Tori Murden McClure and others

Kids Who Think Outside the Box is a very readable blend of first-hand accounts, practical tools and resources. Though the resources are all American, the book will help readers everywhere tap the vast potential in every child by presenting strategies for parents, teachers, and others to support a child's natural inclinations and gifts, whatever they may be.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Richard Louv, $16.95

As children’s connections to nature diminish and the social, psychological, and spiritual implications become apparent, new research shows that nature can offer powerful therapy for such maladies as depression, obesity, and attention deficit disorder. In Last Child in the Woods, Louv talks with parents, children, teachers, scientists, religious leaders, child-development researchers, and environmentalists who recognize the threat and offer solutions. Louv shows us an alternative future, one in which parents help their kids experience the natural world more deeply — and find the joy of family connectedness in the process.

The Lesbian Parenting Book: a Guide to Creating Families and Raising Children, 2nd Edition. D. Merilee Clunis and G. Dorsey Green, $20.95

Written by two experienced lesbian therapists and parents, this completely revised edition of The Lesbian Parenting Book has been updated to reflect the contemporary cultural and political landscape, as well as current trends in parenting.

Let’s Go Outside! Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Susie Ghahremani, $17.95

Let’s Go Outside offers a range of activities perfect for fun in the city, the country and everything in between. Get outside and run, jump, play, explore, dance, hike or camp with your pre-teen and engage your child in outdoor activities and projects that will get the whole family closer to nature.

Money-Smart Kid$. Gail Vaz-Oxlade, $6.99

Teach your children financial confidence and control.

Nature’s Playground: Activities, Crafts and Games to Encourage Children to Get Outdoors. Fiona Danks & Jo Schofeld, $21.95

This wonderful book leads parents, teachers and children through fields, across streams, and over mountains. From making a dam with sticks and stones to cairn lanterns on the beach at night, Nature’s Playground is packed with activities, games, crafts and adventures that will bring children outdoors for year-round fun and bring back memories of one of the chief joys of childhood for adults – exploring the natural world.

Negotiation Generation offers a commonsense approach to parenting that will enable adults to win the tug-of-war with their children about what is, and isn't, acceptable behavior. This proactive plan provides parents with the tools to reclaim their authority, establish boundaries, and cease negotiation tactics such as rewards and punishments, based on the specific ages and temperaments of each child.

NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children. Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman, $16.99

In a world of modern, involved, caring parents, why are so many kids aggressive and cruel? Where is intelligence hidden in the brain, and why does that matter?  Why do cross-racial friendships decrease in schools that are more integrated? If 98% of kids think lying is morally wrong, then why do 98% of kids lie?  What's the single most important thing that helps infants learn language?

NurtureShock is a groundbreaking collaboration between award-winning science journalists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. They argue that when it comes to children, we've mistaken good intentions for good ideas. With impeccable storytelling and razor-sharp analysis, they demonstrate that many of modern society's strategies for nurturing children are in fact backfiring — because key twists in the science have been overlooked.

Nothing like a parenting manual, the authors' work is an insightful exploration of themes and issues that transcend children's (and adults') lives.

1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2 – 12, 4th Edition. Thomas Phelan, $14.95; DVD $45.95

Using behavior modification techniques, Thomas Phelan has created an easy-to-follow program for disciplining children without yelling, arguing or spanking. The revised 4th Edition has been expanded to include dozens of suggestions from readers; new chapters on ‘tweens’, technology and emotional intelligence; research and an updated list of resources.

1-2-3 Magic for Kids: Helping Your Children Understand the New Rules. Thomas Phelan & Tracy Lewis, $8.95

Using stories, pictures and learning activities, 1-2-3 Magic for Kids is designed to help parents explain this popular program to their kids.

The Optimistic Child: a Proven Program to Safeguard Children Against Depression and Build Lifelong Resilience. Martin Seligman, $18.95

Dr. Martin Seligman offers parents, teachers, and coaches a well-validated program to prevent depression in children. In a thirty-year study, Seligman and his colleagues discovered the link between pessimism -- dwelling on the most catastrophic cause of any setback -- and depression. Seligman shows adults how to teach children the skills of optimism that can help them combat depression, achieve more on the playing field and at school, and improve their physical health.

The Parent Survival Guide: from Chaos to Harmony in Ten Weeks or Less. Theresa Kellam, $25.95

In The Parent Survival Guide, psychologist Theresa Kellam presents a way to strengthen the relationship with the child that simultaneously promotes the parent's own emotional healing and wellness. Grounded in a research-supported therapeutic technique that uses structured play time as the catalyst for interpersonal connection and growth, Kellam gives parents the skills they need to begin to set aside special playtimes with their children, during which the most important part of the process is simply "being there" in a way that promotes healing, growth, and communication

Parenting Preteens with a Purpose: Navigating the Middle Years. Kate Thomsen, $15.95

How do you raise preteens to the best of your ability, encourage their responsible and caring actions, and maintain a strong sense of self? This nurturing, research-based guide offers tips, checklists, and solutions to common parenting topics, including preteen friendships, clothes and hair preferences, after-school hours, crushes, and finding a work/home balance. Sympathetic, respectful, and grounded in the Developmental Assets, this handbook provides abundant "on-the-job" support to parents.

Parenting through Crisis: Helping Kids in Times of Loss, Grief and Change, Barbara Coloroso.

When families are facing crisis, parents struggle with how to best nurture and support their children. Parenting Through Crisis offers practical guidance through difficult situations and shows caring adults what they can do to help children facing trauma or loss. Barbara Coloroso's deep love and respect for children once again shine in her compassionate look at parenting during times of chaos and uncertainty. Kids are worth it! $19.99

Positive Discipline A-Z: 1001 Solutions to Everyday Parenting Problems. Jane Nelsen, Lynn Lott & H. Stephen Glenn, $21.95

In this completely updated edition of Positive Discipline A–Z, you will learn how to use methods to raise a child who is responsible, respectful, and resourceful. In Positive Discipline A-Z: 1001 Solutions to Everyday Parenting Problems you’ll find practical solutions and solid advice on sleeping through the night, back talk, and lack of motivation as well as tips on diet, exercise, and obesity prevention, and new approaches to parenting in the age of computers and cell phones.

Positive Discipline: the Classic Guide to Helping Children Develop Self-Discipline, Responsibility, Cooperation and Problem-Solving Skills. Jane Nelsen, $16.95

For twenty-five years, Positive Discipline has been the gold standard reference for grown-ups working with children. Now Jane Nelsen, distinguished psychologist, educator, and mother of seven, has written a revised and expanded edition. The key to positive discipline is not punishment, she tells us, but mutual respect. Nelsen coaches parents and teachers to be both firm and kind, so that any child — from a three-year-old toddler to a rebellious teenager — can learn creative cooperation and self-discipline with no loss of dignity.

The Power of Positive Talk: Words to Help Every Child Succeed. Jon Merritt & Douglas Bloch, $21.95

This revised and updated edition of a beloved classic makes affirmations easy to understand. It leads readers step-by-step through the process of helping kids turn off the negative voice within and activate the powerful "yes!" voice. Kids learn affirmations for all kinds of situations and challenges: school and academics, athletics, facing fears, feeling angry, getting teased, being depressed, and more. There are affirmations for specific developmental stages (from infancy through adolescence) and for special needs including learning differences, behavior disorders, and family problems.

The Practical Guide to Weekend Parenting. Doug Hewitt, $22.95

Whether you are divorced, separated, or simply working during the week, it's getting harder and harder to have one-on-one time with your children, much less plan for weekend play-time. Instead of turning on the television and walking away, there's now an easy way to take charge and teach, strengthen your parent-child ties, and have fun with your kids, and all at the same time.

Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads: Dealing with the Parents, Teachers, Coaches, and Counselors Who Can Make — or Break — Your Child's Future. Rosalind Wiseman & Elizabeth Rapoport, $19.95

Even the most well-adjusted moms and dads can experience peer pressure and conflicts with other adults that make them act like they’re back in seventh grade. In Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads, Rosalind Wiseman gives us the tools to handle difficult situations involving teachers and other parents with grace. Reassuring, funny, and unfailingly honest, Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads offers the tools to become wiser, more relaxed parents and the inspiration to speak out, act according to our values, show humility, and set the kind of example that will make a real difference in our children’s lives.

Raising Drug-Free Kids takes an innovative approach and focuses on preventative measures that can be followed early on in a child's life. Developmental psychologist and parent educator Aletha Solter provides parents with simple, easy-to use tools to build a solid foundation for children to say "no" to drugs. Organized by age group, from preschool through young adulthood, the handy 100 tips will show parents how to help their children to:

• Feel good about themselves without an artificial high.
• Cope with stress so they won't turn to drugs to relax.
• Respect their bodies so they will reject harmful substances.
• Have close family connections so they won't feel desperate to belong to a group.
• Take healthy risks (like outdoor adventures) so they won't need to take dangerous ones.

Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children: What Our Kids Go Through, and How We Can Help Them. Sylvia Rimm, $18.95

Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children is sensitive and revealing look at the emotional pain that overweight children and teens endure. Child psychologist and author Sylvia Rimm explores the problems that are unique to children who struggle with their weight through a survey of more than 5,000 middle school students, personal interviews and cases from her won practice. The result is a compassionate, sensible action plan for helping kids - physically and emotionally.

Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family Life in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports. Regan McMahon, $31.00

A journalist and mother of two athletic kids exposes the physical and emotional dangers of our over-the-top youth sports culture—and offers practical solutions for positive change.

Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by Child. Mary Gordon, $19.95

Mary Gordon, an educator who has worked for more than two decades with children from all kinds of backgrounds, believes that the solution to bullying and other anti-social behaviour lies within each child's innate sense of caring and compassion. She believes that infusing children with empathy constitutes nothing less than a new paradigm in our approach to child-raising.

Through the Roots of Empathy, her highly successful organization, Mary Gordon creates a rich, rewarding classroom experience that fosters empathy within children. The program brings babies and students together in a symbiotic loving environment that has been proven to reduce aggression and increase tolerance and emotional understanding in children. To date, Roots of Empathy has reached 325,000 children worldwide.

In Roots of Empathy: Changing the World Child by Child, the innovative and inspired book based on her groundbreaking research and successful classroom program, Mary Gordon shares her vision of a nation of compassionate and caring children who will pass on their legacy of empathy to their own children.

All of the royalties from this book go back into the Roots of Empathy program.

The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home, Revised Edition. Arlie Hochschild & Anne Machung, $18.50

More than twenty years ago, sociologist Arlie Hochschild set off a tidal wave of conversation and controversy with the bestselling book, THE SECOND SHIFT. In it, she examined what really happens in dual-career households. Adding together time in paid work, child care, and housework, she found that working mothers put in a month of work a year more than their spouses. Updated for a workforce now half female, this edition cites a range of new studies and statistics and includes a new afterword in which Hochschild assesses how much, and how little, has changed for women today.

The Secret of Parenting: How to Be in Charge of Today's Kids — from Toddlers to Preteens — Without Threats or Punishment. Anthony Wolfe, $14.50

Wolfe, a clinical psychologist, is also the author of Get out of My Life, But First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall? and Why Did You Have to Get A Divorce? and When Can I Get A Hamster? He writes funny, compassionate books offering a developmentally-aware kind of common sense for living with the challenges of childhood and adolescence.

In his new book, Wolfe, speaking of the current climate in the relative unacceptability of harsh parental responses to children's behaviour, argues that "(a)lthough children no longer meet the standard for compliance that only the fear of harsh punishment can produce, parents have and always will have sufficient power and leverage to produce children who behave most of the time as we want them to. He uses attachment to explain this power, demonstrates how this knowledge enables us to make decisions about what behaviours mean, shows us how to say "no", how to make them "stop", and how to make them "do." Scores of sample dialogues, plenty of really funny cartoons (Wolfe draws too,), and best of all, a genuinely positive and empathic approach guaranteed to generate the maximum of creative energy for the job of parenting.

• Learn Effective Strategies to Help Your Child Communicate Worries
• Help Your Child Face Worries
• Develop a Plan with Your Child to Manage Worry, Fear, and Anxiety
• Learn Ways to Improve Your Child's Self-Esteem and Build Resilience

For parents concerned about their child's growth, this authoritative resource presents comprehensive information to reassure and guide them in seeking help. Two of America's leading pediatric endocrinologists present reliable guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of growth disorders, from helping parents determine whether their child's height is normal to understanding when it's necessary to seek the advice of a specialist. Parents will also learn about the role of genetics, nutrition, and hormones in their child's growth as well as medical conditions that cause short stature. The Short Child includes current research on treatment; including the controversial use of growth hormone, so you and your physician can decide what's right for your child.

Sleepless in America: Practical Strategies to Help Your Family Get the Sleep It Deserves. Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, $16.50

Sleepless in America offers weary and frustrated parents a helping hand and a thoughtful new approach to managing challenging behaviors. With her characteristic enthusiasm, pragmatism, and extensive experience as a teacher and parent educator, Kurcinka, author of Raising Your Spirited Child, explains that often what our misbehaving kids really need is not more "consequences" or more medication, but more sleep. Integrating research on stress, sleep, and temperament with practical strategies and a five-step approach, Sleepless in America enables parents to help their "tired and wired" children get the sleep they so desperately need.

So Sexy So Soon: the New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids. Diane Levin & Jean Kilbourne, $17.50

Popular culture and technology inundate our children with an onslaught of mixed messages at earlier ages than ever before. Corporations capitalize on this disturbing trend, and without the emotional sophistication to understand what they are doing and seeing, kids are getting into increasing trouble emotionally and socially.

So Sexy So Soon is an invaluable and practical guide for parents who are fed up, confused, and even scared by what their kids–or their kids’ friends–do and say. Filled with savvy suggestions, helpful sample dialogues, and poignant true stories from families dealing with these issues, So Sexy So Soon provides parents with the information, skills, and confidence they need to discuss sensitive topics openly and effectively so their kids can just be kids.

Stay Close: 40 Clever Ways to Connect with Kids When You’re Apart. Tenessa Gemelke, $10.95

How do you keep up with your son’s interests when you’re a hundred miles away? What can you do to express your love to a granddaughter you rarely see? How can you make sure a young person grows up happy and healthy even when you’re not physically there? When you’re away from a young person you love, concerns like these can make the distance seem insurmountable. Stay Close: 40 Clever Ways to Connect with Kids When You’re Apart offers adults fun and creative solutions for nurturing long-distance relationships with kids. This new resource uses activities, real-life anecdotes, and helpful tips to show adults how easy it is to bridge the physical (and generational) gap. Whether you’re 200 or 2000 miles apart, Stay Close will keep your young person just a heartbeat away.

Taking Weight Problems to School. Michele Dean, illustrated by Tom Dineen, $14.25

Taking Weight Problems to School is the latest title in the Special Kids in School® series. These storybooks (some are also available as coloring books) are for children ages 5 to 10 and they cover a wide range of health and development issues — from ADHD, to Tourette Syndrome, from Autism to Cerebral Palsy. There are 18 titles so far in the series and each one has questions for classroom discussion and tips for teachers.

Talk About Anything with Your Kids: an Easy Guide to Great Conversations. Catherine Wakelin, $22.95

Great conversations don’t always happen easily — especially with kids. Many parents find that as their children grow, those chatty preschoolers become mono-syllabic teenagers.

Talk About Anything with Your Kids shows parents how to have open and satisfying conversations with kids from six to 14, with the emphasis on learning to truly listen to what our kids have to say. The book shows you how to develop effective and rewarding communication in your family effectively.  

From the best-selling author of "Raising a Thinking Child", a new book that shows parents and educators how to apply the "I Can Problem Solve" techniques to the top concerns of parents and children from preschool to early adolescence. Going far beyond how to manage or control these problems, Thinking Parent, Thinking Child will help parents and their children learn to find their own best solutions and better learn how to handle life's frustrations and disappointments.

Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason. Alfie Kohn, $16.95; DVD $28.95

Unconditional Parenting addresses the ways parents think about, feel about, and act with their children. It invites them to question their most basic assumptions about raising kids while offering a wealth of practical strategies for shifting from a "doing to" to "working with" style of parenting — including how to replace praise with the unconditional support that children need to grow into healthy, caring, responsible people. This is an eye-opening, paradigm-shattering book that will reconnect readers to their own best instincts and inspire them to become better parents.

• "Unconditional Parenting is going to make you think — hard — about the type of relationship you want to have with your child, about your parenting priorities, and about how to avoid many of the mistakes of our predecessors. It's what we've come to expect from Alfie Kohn, and this is unquestionably one of his most persuasive, important works. For your sake and your child's…read it!"

- Ross W. Greene, The Explosive Child

• "This book underscores an important parenting principle: Discipline is more about having the right relationship with your child than having the right techniques."

- William Sears, The Baby Book and The Discipline Book

• "I found myself wanting to underline every other sentence of Unconditional Parenting, which is different from — and a refreshing challenge to — most other books about raising children. It's entertaining enough so that you can read it quickly, but it's so packed with thought-provoking ideas that you'll want to take your time."

- Barbara Coloroso, Kids Are Worth It!

Welcome to Your Child's Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College. Sandra Aamodt & Sam Wang, $30.00

How children think is one of the most enduring mysteries encountered by parents. In an effort to raise our children smarter, happier, stronger, and better, parents will try almost anything, from vitamins to toys to DVDs. But how can we tell marketing from real science? And what really goes through your kid's growing mind as an infant, in school, and during adolescence?

Neuroscientists Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang explain the facets and functions of the developing brain, discussing salient subjects such as sleep problems, language learning, gender differences, and autism. They dispel common myths about important subjects such as the value of educational videos for babies, the meaning of ADHD in the classroom, and the best predictor of academic success.  Most of all, this book helps you know when to worry, how to respond, and, most important, when to relax.

WELCOME TO YOUR CHILD'S BRAIN upends myths and misinformation with practical advice, surprising revelations, and real, reliable science. It's essential reading for parents of children of any age, from infancy well into their teens.

Winning at Parenting...Without Beating Your Kids, Barbara Coloroso. DVD $27.95; audio CD $16.95

Based on the philosophies of her highly acclaimed book Kids are Worth It!, Barabara Coloroso presents a positive and humorous approach to chores, discipline, mealtime, rebellion, sibling rivalry, and sex education." Parents will learn how to empower and influence their children instead of controlling them. "Thereby giving their children "the gift of inner discipline. "

Your Child's Dog: How to Help Your Kids Care for Their Pets. Andrea McHugh, $16.95

This straightforward guide features step-by-step advice on teaching a child to care for and train a dog. Using examples and step-by-step photographs, Your Child's Dog explains how to respond to a dog's needs while at the same time raising a well-socialized and well-behaved companion pet.

Your Child's Growing Mind: Brain Development from Birth to Adolescence, 3rd edition 2004. Jane Healy, $16.95

The classic guide to understanding children's mental development is now updated and better than ever! Hailed by parents and educators, Your Child's Growing Mind is a window into the fascinating process of brain development and learning. It looks at the roots of emotion, intelligence, and creativity, translating the most current scientific research into practical suggestions for parents and teachers. Dr. Healy also addresses academic learning, offering countless suggestions for how parents can help without pushing. She explains the building blocks of reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics and shows how to help youngsters of all ages develop motivation, attention, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Using the science of childhood development, she also examines today's hot issues, including learning disabilities, ADHD, influences of electronic media, and the hazards of forced early learning. From infancy to adolescence, this is the perfect guide to helping and enjoying a youngster's mental, personal, and academic growth.