More Secrets of Happy Children: Embrace Your Power as a Parent--and Help Your Children be Confident, Positive, Well-Adjusted and Happy

Rating:
Summary: Not much there, what's there is pretty good.
Review: In this simple book, best-selling psychology author Biddulph provides rough outlines of a parenting method. The author is opposed to fulltime child care and physical discipline, but presents his opposition in a reasonably even-handed way. The book does present interesting new terms: softlove (tenderness, affection, making sure the child knows you love him) and firmlove (providing limits and consequences). Read "How to Talk so Children will Listen and Listen so Children Will Talk" instead.

Rating:
Summary: Not much there, what's there is pretty good.
Review: In this simple book, best-selling psychology author Biddulph provides rough outlines of a parenting method. The author is opposed to fulltime child care and physical discipline, but presents his opposition in a reasonably even-handed way. The book does present interesting new terms: softlove (tenderness, affection, making sure the child knows you love him) and firmlove (providing limits and consequences). Read "How to Talk so Children will Listen and Listen so Children Will Talk" instead.

Rating:
Summary: some useful tips but I disagree with some areas of the book
Review: The author gives some useful tips on being firm but fair and gives an interesting account of how daycare affects the under 3 year olds, but there are some areas of the book that I disagree with - for example, he gives a separate chapter for boys and girls, which in itself is ok - but in the chapter called 'Raising Daughters' he includes a compelling and heart-tugging account from a mother who has a severely intellectually disabled child -this was well worth including in the book but surely it should have been included in a section meant for both boys and girls, and not only in the section for raising girls? It should apply to both sexes. Also, he mentions in the section 'Raising Boys' that there is 'something precious and special about boys' - he does not say anything to the same degree about girls. In my eyes girls and boys are equally special. Having said this, the author does do a good job in persuading readers of the danger of smacking children, and even if this is the only aspect of the book that leaves an impression on people then it will have been worth the read.