Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This is a very well written book. It is easy to follow and understand. It has a large dose of common sense. Parents and children alike will benefit from people reading and applying this book.
Rating:
Summary: If you only read one parenting book, read this one!
Review: As a psychologist, I spend a significant portion of my professional life assisting adults to heal from childhood wounds. For the vast majority of my clients, these wounds were unintentionally created by loving parents who truly wanted the very best for their children. I honestly believe that if every parent followed the practices in this book, psychologists of the future would have many, many fewer clients. I would also strongly recommend this book to parents who grew up in dysfunctional families. Very often these parents have a deeply held vision of how they want to be different then their own parents, but lack a model to teach them how to put this vision into practice. This book provides just such a model.
Rating:
Summary: I'm amazed daily at how well the techniques work!
Review: I have a 2.5 year old and have been using the techniques described in this book for a year. It has been a great help. I'm amazed every day that techniques I initially thought would work "someday when he's older" work immediately, such as helping him to name his emotion when he starts a tantrum - most of the time I can help him stop within seconds - and brainstorming a list of options to a problem worked even with a 2 year old - he came up with ideas I wouldn't have thought of that were agreeable to both of us. I give this book as a gift at baby showers!
Rating:
Summary: Not Just Kids! How to talk to Anybody!
Review: A therapist recommended this book to me when my son was 4 years old and I was going though a difficult divorce. I read the book and actually photocopied the basic ideas of each chapter and taped them to the refrigerator for easy reference. The ideas are simple and effective. They build self-esteem and keep the avenues of communication open between parent and child. My son is now almost 18, and we still have a terrific relationship. I've been following the practices in this book for 14 years and I can tell you it has made all the difference. Wherever my son goes, I hear from people who tell me how wonderful he is, how well-mannered, pleasant and charming. They all want to know what ever did I do to raise him this way. I tell them about this book. The more I move through life and the business world, however, I am struck how the same techniques enhance communication between adults in all aspects of life. This book should also be listed in the Business/Management section. It says all the same things the high-priced consultants say -- treat people with respect, do not deny their emotions, state the facts (only) and shut up and listen. This book also talks about giving praise and recognition, which makes it another reason to use it in real life, inside the family AND outside in the "real" world.
Rating:
Summary: It really works
Review: This is a great GUIDELINE to help you find a common language with your kids. The best part is it works with HUSBANDS too
Rating:
Summary: Easy (and fun) to read, down-to-earth, practical resource!
Review: This is a wonderful resource for anyone who works with children. It is a "must read," filled with practical, down-to-earth suggestions that REALLY WORK with children from the "terrible twos" to the "traumatic teens." I read it over at least twice a year to keep my sanity as both a teacher and parent
Rating:
Summary: Critical, easily applicable parenting skills
Review: This book is essential for parents. The tools the authors provide make sense, can be readily applied and work for children of all ages. Best of all, unlike some other parenting manuals, the skills presented are not based on any specific belief system so they can be readily molded to work in anyone's situation. Parenting requires that tricky cobmination of respect, firmness, love and consistency; the authors successfully show how to listen and speak in order to foster and display these attributes
Rating:
Summary: This is a MUST HAVE book for any parent.
Review: It sounds corny, but what Faber and Mazlish have to say REALLY WORKS! Not only do they spell out all the steps clearly and give wonderful examples, they warn you not to read the book straight through, but to take it chapter by chapter and practice. They also provide "reminder" pages that you can post around
the house (ever notice how the advice from books always flees your head
at the critical moment?)
I'm still working on chapter 1, but each time I try to use it things get easier.
And I'm finding that when I talk to my 5 year old son using their methods,
we end up skipping arguments that we certainly would have had before I'd
read the book
Rating: 
Summary: Good book, but not as thorough as should be
Review: I just read this book and -- though it it's right on the money in its attitude towards childrearing -- it doesn't describe the mechanics of how the "listening" and "talking" skills work as well as Thomas Gordon's Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.). P.E.T. has a chapter called How to Listen so Children Will Talk and another called How to Talk so Children Will Listen. I wonder how the autors of this book got away with borrowing the title for their book straight out of some chapters in another (the original P.E.T. was published years before -- the one at stores now is a new edition). Lest it sound like I'm slamming this book, truth is it's not a bad read at all. But for an in-depth explanation of how these skills can be put to daily use, I'd go for P.E.T. Better yet, read both. Even better yet, first read Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman to get an idea WHY these skills are so important to a child's development, then follow it up with P.E.T. and this book.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific book
Review: I feel this should be required reading for parents (and people in general). Easy to read. Great concepts. Great examples. And just as importantly, the tone is very respectful of the parents (so many of the other books on this topic tend to talk to parents like they don't get it...). I recommend it heartily.
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