Rating: 
Summary: Too many jokes?
Review: It's just too many jokes for our household. There's not enough meat for the busy parents in the world. I love humor, but need handy quick solutions. My husband and I both found this in another book we got for a gift, "Mommy-CEO," (for Dads too). While Vicki is not teaching us how to motivate our kids to behave, she is funny. It's our opinion of parents with 5 kids to get tips in a hurry.
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Summary: A "sanity bible" for us first-time toddler moms
Review: I greatly enjoyed the other two Girlfriends' books, but the Toddler one is the best yet. Most of all, it has helped me retain some perspective on these crazy toddler years, so that I haven't had to undergo premature dementia over eating struggles, sleeping (or not), tantrums, etc. This book was never intended by the author to be a comprehensive guide to every single physical and psychological aspect of early childhood! For that, I have the AAP Birth-5 Years book and the What to Expect series. The Girlfriends' Guide is more of a day-to-day survival manual, and it refreshes and reassures like a chat with your best mommy Girlfriend. If you actually READ the book carefully, you'll see that Iovine herself repeatedly advises the reader that she is NOT a pediatrician, nutritionist, psychologist or educator, and suggests many times that you use every resource at your disposal to get specific information. This is a very responsible approach, in my opinion.As for the tone of the book being described as "put-upon" and exhausted, well, four toddlers will do that to you! I am now eagerly awaiting the Girlfriends' Guides for the school-age and teen years. Keep up the good work, Vicki!
Rating: 
Summary: Girlfriends need more friends like you!
Review: I thought this book was helpful. As a working mom of a fourteen month-old, I needed something that was informative and light. My precious angel has entered the terrible two's phase at the age of one and I know this is just the beginning. Ms. Iovine's experience and insight gives me the strength to be the best mom I can be and still have a sense of humor about raising my daughter.
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Summary: Hush critics--give Vicky Iovine a break!
Review: Vicky Iovine's latest effort continues to do the trick for me. I have the good fortune of having my children at the proper time-- just as Mrs. Iovine produces another journal, age appropriate for my stage of motherhood. My kids are (almost) 4 and (almost) 2, and the struggles that are described make me feel like the latest victim of The Truman Show...(Is she watching me, or what?) My kids were actually watching Easter Parade at the moment I was reading Vicky's description of the same--Toddler Fashion Don'ts (including hats that match the dress.) Yikes. The tale of the sister-in-law's anxiety re: toddler Spagettio's consumption without utensils warmed my soul. Despite what Mrs. Iovine has said, I am an obstetrician who recommends her books (along with the "gold standards") to my patients. A little bit of humor isn't a bad thing, here. Although she isn't a medical professional (a bonus, if you ask me), her advice makes sense and her priorities are clear. She has the freedom to address concerns that the standard reference books don't; the anxiety that parenthood brings, (that is, if you understand the question,) the unachievable (undesirable) nature of mommy perfection, and the clear understanding that our role as mothers is not to fix every problem, but to try to fix the important ones. The trying is the important thing, not actually the fix. What a relief. I hope Mrs.Iovine continues to impart her wisdom to me, and also to my patients, many of which have found her to be invaluable in navigating the bumpy road of parenthood. I would also like to remind her that my oldest will be leaving toddlerhood someday fairly soon...
Rating:
Summary: Fun reading but lacking more details and information
Review: I chose this book looking for something different (and a bit cheaper than) WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING - THE TODDLER YEARS. Well, I got what I paid for. While Iovine's book what quite fun to read, even for my hubby to pick up, it lacked enough information. It was short and readable. That's great for a novel, for my first child I wanted an in-depth, detailed, resource full of multi-faceted information to really cover ALL the issues of toddlerhood. I wanted more than what I got. Publish the unabridged, long version, not the synopsis, please! Just compare the size of the two books and that tells you that Iovine left some details out!
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected!
Review: I expected that this would be as funny and helpful as Vicki's first two indispensible guides! I must have purchased at least a dozen copies of the other two books as gifts for girlfriends, but I wouldn't waste my money again on this one! Try either one of her other books if you're looking for Vicki's best works. I would have to agree with several of the other comments here that it is a lot like a compendium of previously written articles.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but not up to Iovine's standard.
Review: I am a great admirer of Vicki Iovine's first two Girlfriends' Guides, and I have looked to them for reassurance countless times in my new motherhood. I know what she is capable of, and therefore I find the Girlfriends' Guide to the Toddler Years something of a disappointment. I have read the whole book and enjoyed it, but I found it to be not nearly as tight as the other two. Perhaps it's because Iovine has been quite successful with these books, so her publisher knows that readers will buy this one based on the first two and saw no reason to put the same effort into this latest addition to the series. Perhaps it's because this one went out on a much faster timetable - one year after the most recent, instead of two like the Guide to the First Year. The prose is not as tightly edited, the formatting is inconsistent and somewhat dissheveled, and the entire tone is not as much fun. Iovine is at her best when talking as a Girlfriend, giving advice to mothers about themselves and making them feel that they are not alone in their troubles. Guide to Toddlers focusses on the children instead of the mother, and the author clearly does not find this topic as compelling. She sounds tired and put-upon, which is not surprising given the size of her family and her substantial writing commitments, but does make this book something of a downer compared to the joyful first two Guides. I wish she had taken the extra year it would have required to produce this book at a more leisurely pace and infuse it with the same zest for motherhood that has made her one of my favorite girlfriends.
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Summary: Very funny, lighthearted look at toddlers.
Review: This book kept me interested and made me laugh. A good light read, nothing too heavy, very entertaining. Hopefully there will be more Guides in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Fun reading for busy and tired-out mothers
Review: As a first time mother of a girl who is 1 year and 3 months old,I read the book with great interest. It is really a wonder to watch the transformation from a baby to a toddler once she starts to walk, but a little frightening at the same time. Reading this book made me aware of what to expect in the next 2 years, and reassured me that mothers all around the world are experiencing the same problems and joys as I am while raising a child. I was especially delighted in reading the chapter on "Fashion", because we do have Baby GAP stores in Japan, and can order from the Hanna Andersen catalog. Unlike most other books on toddlers, this one was so fun to read that I could not put it down. Highly recommended for first time mothers who have recently realized that their babies have become somebody else.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing; is Iovine just a franchise now?
Review: I don't think I could have gotten through my pregnancy without my two ultimate sources, WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING and THE GIRLFRIEND'S GUIDE TO PREGNANCY. Only Iovine really made me understand what "breaking water" might be like and prepared me for some of the ins and outs of the birthing process. So with high hopes, I grabbed a copy of THE GIRLFRIEND'S GUIDE TO TODDLERS -- and I was so disappointed. It reads like a compendium of her articles for Child magazine put together by her editor. Missing are the delicious little girlfriend details one counts on. Wouldn't you expect really good scoop from the Girlfriends on potty training? Need some really nifty tricks to convince your toddler to sleep (or at least to convince yourself that his/her insomnia isn't your fault)? Don't look for it here; it's just the basic stuff. If you need a girlfriend fix, or are just curious about Iovine's take on toddlerhood, you are better off hitting the library and looking up her articles in Child. I have not referred to the book even once since reading it. I didn't even think it was funny enough or full of enough info to give away to a friend.
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