Parenting

Teen talk - parent talk : a common sense guide to raising your teenager / Sharon Witt.
"It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child. In that case, it takes an entire city to raise a teen! Parenting a teenager can have its challenges, however, the good news is that you are not alone in your parenting journey and there is an abundance of collective wisdom that we can draw on. In this common sense guide, teen author and educator Sharon Witt shares her many years of experience immersed in teen world and offers sound, practical advice and strategies to help you better understand your teenager, including: * understanding how teenagers are wired* practical advice for helping your teen develop a positive self-image* navigating the cyber world* practical strategies for coping at High School* how to deal with the puberty blues and managing your teen's health" (Global Books).

Mum & baby : together we learn / Jan Murray.
"Parenting babies and toddlers isn't always easy? Parenting is a journey with much to learn Read what my life was like raising babies and toddlers when I was a new parent. Learn what I could have done better, had I done what I know from experience now. My story will make you laugh, cry and learn what you could possibly be doing better in the many challenges that you face" (Global Books).

Jo Frost's Confident Toddler Care / Jo Frost.
"Jo Frost's steady handed approach to raising toddlers is an indispensible manual for these sometimes trying years. It covers all the important topics, such as potty training, mealtimes & tantrums etc and presents a clear action plan for each occasion. It focuses on issues such as working parents/guilt, discipline, healthy eating/portion sizes, transition from bottle to cup, potty training, sleep problems" (Amazon.co.uk).

Bringing up bebe: one American mother discovers the wisdom of French parenting
"Living in Paris has allowed American journalist Druckerman (Lust in Translation) a riveting glimpse into a calmer, rational, sage way of raising children. With three children of her own, all born in Paris and happily bilingual, Druckerman wanted to find the key to forging the well-behaved youngsters she witnessed in parks and restaurants-infants who sleep through the night at two months, children with table manners, who don't interrupt adults or eat between meals. It starts, apparently, with calm, sensible French mothers, who don't become enormously self-indulgent during pregnancy, but quickly lose the baby fat after birth and rarely breast feed. The French health system helps by its generous maternal and child-care policies. Babies are treated as rational creatures, expected to "self-distract" in order to fall asleep (Druckerman calls the essential lapse in response time "La Pause"), and wait to eat when everybody else has their meals, four times a day, including the 4 p.m. sweet time called le gouter. Instead of rushing to satisfy or stimulate a child a la Americain, the French are keen on aiding kids to discover on their own, developing autonomy with the help of a cadre, or frame, which is firm but flexible. Citing Rousseau, Piaget, and Francoise Dolto, as well as scores of other parents, Anglophone or French, Druckerman draws compelling social comparisons, some dubious (e.g., Frenchwomen, unlike Americans, don't expect their husbands to help much with housework, thus eliminating "tension and resentment"), others helpful (insisting that children try new foods at each meal to broaden their palates), but she is ever engaging and lively to read. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved" (Publisher Weekly).

Grandparents : enjoying and caring for your grandchild / Miriam Stoppard.
The definitive guide for new grandparents covering 0-3 years. Pregnancy and parenting guru Miriam Stoppard, a grandmother herself many times over, offers indispensable, unpatronising advice on everything from learning and play to weaning and allergies to bedtime routines and sleep training. This practical how-to manual reminds grandparents of essential babycare skills while updates explain how medical and babycare procedures have changed since they raised their own children. (Syndetics)

Growing great families / Ian & Mary Grant.
"Ian and Mary have studied the keys to healthy functioning and fun filled families through years of teaching parenting throughout NZ and Australia. They believe that 'family is everything' and emphasise that a family is a community and that this is the key to growing great families. Children need to know the security of a family operating as a team and receive the joy in their everyday experience of being contributors, not just takers. In this way children will experience real intimacy and emotional safety. Whatever we parents honour or treat as sacred or special, our children will also honour, whether that is the TV, regular family times or sport. Consequently this book is a call to refocus on what it is to create a family, to look again at what we are honouring in the little community we call our family and to think about our ultimate goals for the individuals and their relationships. Growing great families covers the following topics: being a parent in the world we now inhabit; building the foundations; what makes a family into a community; moulding big personalities into a family; life-defining values; two pillars of great families - fun and communication; and moving from dependence to interdependence. Once again these successful authors offer us great parenting skills that any family can use effectively, with great practical advice - including smart strategies, action labs and chapter summaries" (Global Books).

Fragile / Lisa Unger.
"In this stunning new stand-alone psychological thriller, Lisa Unger examines the small town secrets exposed when a teenager goes missing in circumstances similar to another young girl's disappearance twenty years before. "But how do you know he didn't hurt her?" Jones asks his wife, Maggie anguished when their son's girlfriend, Charlene, vanishes. Eerie parallels soon emerge between this disappearance and the abduction that shook their community years ago. Maggie can hardly believe that her husband, a police officer, suspects Ricky of causing Charlene's disappearance. Ricky is his father's son in all the most important ways and she suddenly realizes that might be exactly what Jones fears. In a town where the past is always present, nobody is above suspicion, not even a son in the eyes of his father. Determined to uncover the truth, Maggie pursues her own leads into Charlene's disappearance and exposes a long-buried town secret-one that could destroy everything she holds dear. This thrilling novel about one community's intricate yet fragile bonds will leave readers asking, How well do I know the people I love? and How far would I go to protect them" (Drawn from publisher's description).

Mother and child [video recording] (2011) A film by Rodrigo Garcia
"Three women's lives share a common core. They have all been profoundly affected by adoption. At age fourteen, Karen placed a baby for adoption, and has been haunted ever since by the daughter she never knew. Elizabeth grew up as an adopted child. Even though she is a bright and ambitious lawyer, she is a flinty loner in her personal life. Lucy and her husband are just embarking on the adoption odyssey, hoping for the opportunity to become parents." (Cover)

A father's love: one man's unrelenting battle to bring his abducted son home [sound recording] / By David Goldman & read by Ken Abraham (2011)
"The founder of the Bring Sean Home Foundation advocacy group for parents of internationally abducted children describes how his Brazilian wife unexpectedly returned to her native country and refused to share custody of their son, triggering an international controversy" (Cover)