July E-zine Offers Book Reviews, ‘Staycation’ and Fund-Raising Tips

We’re think there’s at least 101 reasons you should be reading “News for Parents,” our monthly newsletter—and one of them is the zillions (well, hundreds) of ideas you’ll find for fun, fund-raising, and family activities.

Check www.parentingpress.com/ezine.html for a year’s worth of issues. In the new July issue alone, here are a few of the stories:

• Diagramming sentences—why and how to
• How our language developed
• Small talk tips from ‘socially clueless’ author
• No-stress, economical staycations
• Recipe guide/tasting buffet as a school or sports fund-raiser

If you subscribe to the advertising-free newsletter (no, we don’t use your contact information for marketing purposes), you’ll automatically receive the August issue, which will include such stories as:

• MOKS, POFS, and FOF
• Understanding autism
• The power of one

Want more information? Call the cheerful Parenting Press crew at (800) 992-6657, Ext. 105, or e-mail media@ParentingPress.com.

(July 1, 2008)

Note to e-mail subscribers: Several copies of the e-mail edition are rejected by bulk mail (“spam”) filters each month. If you subscribe to the e-mail edition and did not receive your copy, this may be the reason. If your mail server permits, put “ezine@ParentingPress.com” on the list of senders you will always accept.

What Angry Kids Need Called “Complete and Comprehensive”

A national publication, the Midwest Book Review, calls What Angry Kids Need “a complete and comprehensive guide to assist parents with their kids’ temper flareups. . .” and describes it as “a must for any parent who fears their child’s tantrums may be a problem and for community library parenting collections.”

For the complete review, see Midwest Book Review (scroll down).

(June 29, 2008)

Angry Kid Authors Offer Workshop

Through Cascadia Training, Jennifer Anne Brown, MSW, and Pam Provonsha Hopkins, MSW, will offer practical, realistic advice for therapist, parents, teachers and others who care for angry children at a September workshop in the Seattle suburb of Shoreline. The authors of What Angry Kids Need will include step-by-step exercises, dialogs and demonstrations of how to avoid no-win situations during the full-day Sept. 19 session.

For more information about the workshop, fees and CEUs, contact Cascadia Training at (206) 441-6892, www.cascadia-training.org.

(June 29, 2008)

The Way I Feel Praised by Parents of Autistic Kids

Two recent online reviews by parents praise The Way I Feel can be used with autistic children.

“Teaching an autistic child the language for their emotions is a difficult task,” wrote one mother, who explained that her child could not recognize people’s emotions from their actions and facial expressions. “We pull this book out whenever I see that my daughter does not understand how someone was feeling earlier in the day.”

“This is an ideal book to have in your home,” wrote another parent, who said, “Some children may have language delays, developmental delays or any array of speech/language pathologies that make The Way I Feel a fantastic choice to provide children with the tools they need to verbalize their feelings.”

Earlier, during National Autism Awareness Month, we were told, “The Way I Feel is absolutely a treat to read and explore. . .It’s not uncommon for children on the Autism spectrum to struggle with interpreting facial expressions and body language. . .This was an area my son had a tough time with. We started out with simple line drawings. . ., we tried showing him actual photos of people making different expressions. . .But, whaddya know, The Way I Feel worked. . .No detail has been left out, from the image to the colors on the page and even the font. The text speaks the truth and isn’t heavy-handed.”

“The Way I Feel is the best book I’ve seen for helping teach children what emotions are,” commented another parent, who said her daughter had difficulty understanding emotions and expressing them appropriately. “The illustrations themselves are large and spill from one page to the next, each conveying the emotion perfectly. . .[the book] has been a wonderful conduit for getting my daughter to learn and talk about emotions.”

Many parents and educational programs have expressed interest in a Spanish edition of The Way I Feel, which Parenting Press is now working on. If you are interested in a quantity purchase of a Spanish edition, please e-mail our marketing department and we will provide information on pre-publication retail discounts for orders of 25 or more books. For quantity purchases of the 32-page hardbound edition, or the 19-page board book, both in English, contact our sales department by email or phone, (206) 364-2900, Ext. 101.

(June 21, 2008)

Parents.com Features Our Potty Book

The Parents magazine web site has named Mommy! I Have to Go Potty! by Jan Faull as one of its favorite toilet training books. The book is one of several featured in a slide show on Parents.com—here is the beginning of the potty training slide show. Or you can look at their list of the best children's books by age.

(June 18, 2008)

More Honors for Is This a Phase?

Parenting Press is celebrating, and so is Helen F. Neville! Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years has won a silver medal in the 10th annual Book of the Year Awards sponsored by ForeWord magazine.

An Oakland, California parent educator and pediatric advice nurse who used her 30 years of experience to answer the questions that parents always ask, Neville was honored at the 2008 BookExpo America in Los Angeles.

Is This a Phase? has also received an Honor Award in the 2008 National Parenting Publications Awards program (see www.parenthood.com for details).

Jurors in the 2008 Benjamin Franklin Awards program wrote, “Bravo! Excellent project: clearn concise, informative writing.” Even better, Is This a Phase? was the subject of a rave review in Library Journal. This prestigious industry publication described it as “an authoritative reference covering a broad range of topics . . . that every parent needs. . .Neville’s book is accurate, reliable, and practical, with many charts and graphs that render the information accessible.”

Neville has been affiliated with Kaiser Permanente for three decades. She is also associated with Bananas, the Oakland child care resource and referral network. She earlier co-authored Temperament Tools, also published by Parenting Press.

(June 13, 2008)

"My Grandma Died": “Very Strongly Recommended”

The gentle story and pictures in My Grandma Died: A Child’s Story about Grief and Loss, written by Lory Britain, Ph.D., and illustrated by Carol Deach, has received a rave review by Wisconsin Bookwatch, which recently wrote:

“Especially appropriate for preschool- and kindergarten-aged children, My Grandma Died is a simple, exceptionally well-crafted story that deals with all the emotional consequences children encounter with the death of a loved one. . .An appropriate addition to community library collections, and very strongly recommended for families, day-care centers and preschool facilities, family counseling and social service agencies.”

(May 28, 2008)

"It’s MY Body" Used in Sexuality Education

It’s MY Body, the ground-breaking guide that Lory Freeman and Carol Deach created to help small children resist unpleasant touches, has been again selected by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations for its Our Whole Lives sexuality curriculum. Excerpts from It’s MY Body have been used in this worldwide educational program since 1999. For more information about Our Whole Lives, see www.uua.org.

(May 21, 2008)

Don’t Know What to Expect of Your Baby?

Once a baby is born, an “astonishing number” of parents are unsure of what to anticipate as their child develops, reports a new University of Rochester research study.

Almost one-third of U.S. parents have a “surprisingly low-level knowledge of typical infant development and unrealistic expectations for their child’s physical, social and emotional growth,” says the report, which was presented at the recent Pediatric Academic Society meeting.

That’s exactly the problem that Helen F. Neville addresses in her Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years, which points out that children may reach certain milestones at very different ages from their equally healthy peers.

One of the points made by lead researcher Heather Paradis, M.D., is that “some parents expect too much of babies too soon and grow frustrated.” This is exactly what Neville says in her book and in her presentations.

For more information about Paradis’s study, check the article in the University of Rochester’s news archive.

(May 19, 2008)

Fish Faces Abound at Libraries!

The Mokena Community Library was packed to capacity for its recent Fish Lips Face Photo Contest, reports Janan Cain, author/illustrator of The Way I Feel, the book on which the contest is based. Besides helping select the “fishiest” face among the children imitating the face on the front of her book, she presented her popular how-to-draw lesson (available free) and autographed dozens of books. A wonderful time was had by all, she tells us.

Winners included John Babich and Angie Kelso.

John Babich

Angie Kelso

(Updated May 28, 2008)

“How LONG Will This Last?”

That’s how About Our Children, a monthly from the New Jersey/Rockland Jewish Media Group, headlined the review of Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years that appears in its May issue.

“A comprehensive guide to early childhood development,” wrote the reviewer, and described Helen F. Neville’s book as “Peppered with useful sidebars, graphs and charts that make it easy to navigate.”

(May 6, 2008)

Listen for Helen Neville on NPR

Starting the week of May 28, you can tune into any NPR station that carries “Parent’s Journal” to hear Helen F. Neville, author of Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years, interviewed by Bobbi Conner.

The three topics author Neville will discuss with Conner are:

• Attention span and how it develops as a child grows
• Ping-pong parenting and how to avoid it during the toddler and preschooler years
• Teaching children impulse control

Check your NPR affiliate station for air times or visit parentsjournal.com for a program schedule and for podcasts of previously aired programs.

(March 6, 2008; updated April 7 & 20)

On the Air: What Angry Kids Need

Pam Provonsha Hopkins, M.S.W., co-author with Jennifer Anne Brown, M.S.W., of the newly published What Angry Kids Need: Parenting Your Angry Child Without Going Mad, was interviewed April 25 on KIT-AM, Yakima, Wash., by Mike Bastinelli.

Hopkins earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work at Walla Walla College. After starting her career with an outgrowth of the college’s social work department, she worked in Yakima with Catholic Family and Child Service. Now a resident of Snohomish, Wash., she practices in nearby Woodinville. She also has consulted with Yakima’s Reil House Treatment Center and Everett’s state-funded Early Childhood Education Assistance Program.

(April 20, 2008; updated May 19)

“All I Can Say Is, ‘Buy This Book’ ”

Just the praise Parenting Press likes to hear, and we found it in mid-April on Mother Load, where a blogger wrote, “Temperament Tools. . .claims to give you the ability to ‘work with your child’s inborn traits.’ After having reread it, all I can say is, buy this book. It’s magically delicious.”

“By the time [authors Helen F. Neville and Diane Clark Johnson] were explaining to me why Cooper needs the tags cut out of his shirts, and why Fergus isn’t hungry for breakfast until 10 a.m., I was thinking, I live on the 12th floor of an apartment building. How can you be looking in my windows? This book is spooky spot-on!”

(April 15, 2008)

What Angry Kids Need Described as “Hot” Seller

Our new how-to guide for dealing with children’s anger—and our own—is described by Amazon.com as a “hot new release” and especially recommended for parents dealing with special needs of all kinds.

Reviews on Amazon include this comment from a therapist who works with children experiencing emotional and behavioral difficulties:

A mother of four added:

What Angry Kids Need: Parenting Your Angry Child Without Going Mad was written by Jennifer Anne Brown and Pam Provonsha Hopkins, therapists who practice in Woodinville, WA, and illustrated by Mits Katayama of Seattle.

(April 14, 2008)

Author of What Angry Kids Need Quoted in Seattle Daily

Jennifer Anne Brown, M.S.W., co-author of What Angry Kids Need, was recently interviewed by Seattle Post-Intelligencer parenting reporter Paul Nyhan. The article, “Working Dad: Finding the right mix of strength and self-control with today’s more aggressive girls,” is on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’ web site.

(April 7, 2008)

New PEP Talk: Procrastinators, Adult ADHD, Families of Deployed Military

The Spring issue of Parenting Press’s quarterly for parent educators, school social workers and other professionals is packed—yes, PACKED—with information you can use now or with future clients.

This PEP Talk tells:

• How to help end the cycle of women who single parent in poverty
• Why women who opt out of professional careers may be unusually intense
• Why teaching teenagers problem-solving skills can reduce risky behavior
• How to support military families before, during and after deployment to war zones
• Why teenagers with sick parents may suffer more emotionally than younger children
• How to recognize adults with attention deficit problems
• What you can do about procrastinators you live or work with

(April 4, 2008
Updated June 2)

Awards at Northwest Parenting & Family Education Conference

Drew Betz, WSU-Whatcom County, Wash., extension educator, congratulates Minneapolis parent educator Jean Illsley Clarke with a lifetime achievement award, the second such award presented in the 14-year history of the annual Northwest Parenting & Family Education Conference in March in Vancouver, Wash. Clarke is the author of several books, including two published by Parenting Press, Time-In: When Time-Out Doesn’t Work, and Who, Me Lead a Group? Her leader’s guide for How Much Is Enough will also be sold by Parenting Press.

Parenting Press, represented by founder Elizabeth Crary and publisher Carolyn Threadgill, received the first organizational award for contributions to parenting education ever presented by the conference, which is sponsored by Washington State University Extension in cooperation with the extension programs at Montana State University, Oregon State University and the University of Idaho.

Photos by Helen F. Neville, whose new book Is This a Phase? was the Parenting Press best-seller at this conference.

(March 22, 2008; updated March 26, 2008)

Conference Specials Still Available

If part of your job or volunteer assignment is promoting parenting education or early childhood education, you can still purchase the “Publicize Your Programs on a Shoestring Budget” packet prepared for the recent parent educator conference in Vancouver, Wash.

The basis for Linda Carlson’s presentation on cost-effective promotion, this packet includes three back issues of our PEP Talk quarterly, with such articles as:

• “Creative, Cost-effective Promotion for Parent Education Programs”

• “Marketing Doesn’t Require Huge Budgets and Special Expertise”

• “Overcoming Challenges to Attracting and Retaining Participants”

• “Plan Ahead, Piggyback on Other Events and Persist”

• “How Parent Educators Are Dealing with Funding Cuts at a Time of Increased Need for Services”

The packet also includes three ready-to-use teaching plans, and research and book reviews. Cost: only $10 plus shipping and any applicable tax. Use the link below or specify “Publicize Your Programs” when you telephone.

(March 22, 2008)

Kaiser Permanente Praises Is This a Phase?

Parenting Press’s new child development reference by Helen F. Neville is receiving high marks from Kaiser Permanente Oakland’s health education department, which says:

• Easy to reference, fun to read
• Excellent format/layout
• Easy to use and refer to, relevant to child’s current age/stage/development
• Medically accurate and current information presented in a non-judgmental manner
• Practical and empowering for the reader

In addition, health educator Gina Galliterto describes such sections as “kindergarten readiness,” “bilingual issues and education,” and “diversity,” the charts and the “around the world” sidebars as “highlights,” because that information is so often missing from other parenting guides.

(December 29, 2007)

Quick! Check Qwik Books for 24/7 Help!

Exhausted by your toddler’s tantrums? Anxious about possible abusers in your neighborhood? Unsure how to explain war? Frantic about a suspiciously secretive teenager? You need help right now. And you can find it right here, with Parenting Press’s dozens of online resources. It’s 24/7 help, as close as your keyboard.

You probably know about our weekly parenting tips, and now we have two more great resources for on-the-spot help with parenting concerns:

Qwik Sheets

Our concise Qwik Sheets provide a variety of practical suggestions for handling new or common issues in an easy-to-read format you can print for everyday reference or e-mail to a worried friend.

Qwik Books

Just as easy to use are Parenting Press’s new Qwik Books. They’re designed so you can print out booklets with dozens of tips, straightforward explanations of typical child development questions—and entire children’s books.

We continue to offer “News for Parents,” the free monthly newsletter, full of book reviews, feature stories, family activities and community service projects appropriate for kids; and Teacher Activities, oriented to teachers, librarians, home-schoolers and parents with the teaching plans, downloadable games and quick-to-print note cards using art work from our favorite children’s publications. You’ll find everything you need for a story hour, classroom or youth group project!

If you’re a parent educator, early childhood educator or other family life professional, remember to check Parenting Education Practitioners (PEP) Talk. This informative quarterly for professionals is packed with book and research reviews, timely articles, how-to’s from your peers and, in each issue, a step-by-step one-hour presentation ideal for parenting classes.

(March 13, 2007)

California Schools Approve Publications

The Way I Feel, Parenting Press’s 32-page prize-winning picture book about emotions, and Self-Calming Cards, which show and describe how to manage feelings, are two of the Parenting Press publications approved for supplemental use in California public schools.

The Feeling Elf Cards & Games and the Decision Is Yours Series—Bully on the Bus, Finders, Keepers, Under Whose Influence, Making the Grade and First Day Blues—were also determined to meet “social content” requirements of the California Department of Education’s code.

“These guidelines ensure that materials portray democratic values, cultural pluralism, and the diversity of our population by emphasizing people in a variety of positive roles,” the Press was told.

The publications will now be included on the list of California’s Legal and Social Compliance Approved Out-of-Cycle Instructional Materials.

(January 9, 2007
Updated: February 12, 2007)

Bookstores and Libraries Sponsoring
Fish Lips Face Photo Contests

If you run a bookstore or library that would like to get kids in the door, consider a Fish Lips Face Photo Contest.

To promote Janan Cain’s prize-winning The Way I Feel, Parenting Press provides gift books as prizes when kids imitate the goofy face on the cover of Mrs. Cain’s The Way I Feel.

• More information (whether you’re a bookstore, library or prospective “fish lips face”)

(October 28, 2003
Updated October 7, 2004
Updated May 24, 2007)

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