Welcome to the Book Review section of Ask Jill

Book Review #1:
Redirecting Children's Behavior - Discipline That Builds Self-Esteem by Kathryn Kvols

Imagine a home where family  members encourage each other, a home where they listen to each other and solve  conflicts in a way that everyone wins! I use this book when I teach my classes.  It is a basic book that gives parents, teachers, grandparents, coaches, and others new tools to create cooperative relationships with children.

 In  this book you will learn how to:
     Become a calmer effective  parent.
     Set limits & stick to them.
     Teach your children  self-control and self-motivation.
     Minimize sibling fighting.
     Create more cooperation and closeness within the family.

If you want  practical solutions to everyday problems like bedtime hassles, homework issues,  whining, temper tantrum prevention and much more, I highly recommend this book.

Book Review #2:
Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock

This is a must have for new parents. Buy this book before  you have your baby. It covers everything from when to take away the pacifier to  which food to introduce when to how to diagnose different illnesses. I have referred back to it constantly. There is a great index in the back for easy  reference.

Temperament is established before birth and studies have shown that you can tell basic things about a child’s temperament at 4 weeks old. See section on Temperament.

Book Review #3:
Good Friends Are Hard To Find by Fred Frankel, PhD.

Do you wish your child had more  friends? If you feel bad when your child has no one to play with, outraged when other kids tease and pick on her, or helpless when school calls and tells you he has been fighting. Good Friends Are Hard to find can help.

Step-by-step,  parents learn to help their 5 to 12-year-olds make friends and solve problems with other kids. This guide also offers concrete help for teasing, bullying and  meanness, both for the child who is picked on and for the tormentor. Based on  the prestigious UCLA Children's Social Skills Program, this book teaches clinically tested techniques that really work.

Fred Frankel, a  psychologist, is a leading expert on children's social skills and is Director of the world renowned UCLA Parent Training & Children's Social Skills Programs.

Dr. Frankel is an Associate Professor of Medical Psychology at UCLA  where he teaches and trains pediatricians, psychologists, social workers and  child psychiatrists. This book is a must read for all parents. Whether or not your child is spirited, you will learn a tremendous amount of information that  will help you be a more patient and loving parent. This is something all of us  want. There is a lot of valuable information available in this book.

Book Review #4:
Win the Whining War & Other Skirmishes by  Cynthia Whitham, MSW

Do your children ever drive you crazy? You are not alone. All parents have to deal with annoying behavior. There is something you  can do to eliminate it and Win The Whining War & Other Skirmishes will help.

Whining is a common complaint from parents and this book offers  easy-to-use methods to decrease whining and other behaviors such as tantrums,  dawdling, complaining and interrupting.