Rating: 
Summary: A disappointing read
Review: I thoroughly researched this book and what I received did not ring true with the reviews.This book is very much like a lecture. It's academic to the point that it's disassociated with reality. The assumption is that you lack effective parenting skills, and that you are dealing with an average child possessing moderate characteristics. The book does not addresss children who do not fit into the box. The solutions are simplistic, and I actually laughed out loud when I read some of them. For example, one of the major solutions is to simply redirect. You just tell the child, using a specific method, not to do something then redirect, and presto, they do it. This book is not the magic pill and it seems to me that the author(s) has not dealt with a "challenging" child on a daily and basis over an extended period of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Title, Good Book
Review: I was put off by the title of this book but I bought it for my sister who was struggling with a child who knew how to push his divorced parents' buttons. They both felt guilty and sorry for him after the divorce, and he used that knowledge to get what he wanted or to get out of things he didn't want to do. By the age of 14, he had a lot of problems dealing with the normal things kids his must deal with -- school work, problems with friends, honouring his commitments to school teams and clubs, family members, etc. -- because his parents had always stepped in to make excuses for him and never made him do anything he didn't feel like doing because they felt he'd ``suffered enough'' in the aftermath of their divorce.
He's a nice, smart boy, and he was only doing what had worked for him for most of his life.
Nonetheless, the title of this book makes it sound like these children are cunning and devious schemers. But inside it becomes clear that the problem is the parents, not the kids. And the book instructs parents to stop enabling and lay down the law in a gentle and humane way.
My sister was insulted at first by the title of the book until she read it and recognized herself in the mistakes many parents like her make. She finished it and gave it to her ex-husband. It took about a month of breaking bad habits, but the change in my nephew is remarkable. He honours commitments and if he can't, he doesn't make false promises. He gets his homework done without whinging to his parents that he can't do it and that the teacher is unfair to him. He goes to bed when he's told and doesn't try to wear his parents down into giving him an extra hour of Nintendo time.
And it was like he was wanting this and silently asking for it all his life. He wanted his parents to present a united front and lay down rules, regulations and expectations. And now he is meeting them, and seems much happier to me than I have ever seen him.
So don't be put off the book's title. If you're struggling with a child who you feel is getting the better of you, give this book a read. It'll get you back on the right path.
Rating:
Summary: Should have been a magazine article...
Review: I would recommend 1, 2, 3, Magic over this book. It has more useful advice, with less padding. The book's basic premise is that solving children's problems for them, or allowing them to avoid solving them, will undermine the child's development of competency in the situation, and ultimately their ability to take real life on on life's terms. It advocates that the parent sit the child down, wait about 30 seconds or until they are quiet, and redirect the child. In the case of fearful or sad situation, it would say that the parent should lovingly but firmly make the child face the fear or sadness. It does not take an entire book to suggest these things. The majority of the book is anecdotal stories of manipulation and it's dire developmental consequences. It left me feeling paranoid and hyper vigilant about being manipulated, which is not a constructive thing to take away from a parenting book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent guide to curbing manipulative behavior.
Review: This book provides a clear description of manipulative behaviors and how to address them. As an educator and parent, I have used the suggestions in this book and have found them to work. Not only do the suggestions work, they led to children who are happy with their accomplishments without using rewards and punishments.
Rating:
Summary: Best Parenting Book Out There!
Review: This book really hits on the blurred lines of parent/child relationships prevalent today. So many parents have given up authority in order to be 'friends' with their kids. This book talks about how to regain control.
Rating:
Summary: A commonsense approach! No psycho-babble here!
Review: This book sure was an eye opener for my husband and me. Trying to blend two families, plus deal with his 12 year old daughter's behavior exhausted us beyond belief. This book supported what we knew we needed to do. If you are ready to get rid of the guilt that manipulate children feed on, then you are ready to read and apply this advice. Finally we were able to "pull the rug out" from beneath what she thought was her arsenal of tried and true tricks. Tricks that had always work for her, but after reading this book; slowly came to an end. I recommend this book to all stepfamilies and non-stepfamilies where you feel your child is "RUNNING THE SHOW".
Rating:
Summary: Not just for parents...
Review: While this book mainly targets parents and educators, it has given me abundantly more insight into adult friends, even colleagues, who have stylized somewhat more sophisticated manipulative strategies and behaviors in the adult world. This book lays bare several modes of operation, which I now recognize and deal with differently.
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