January Parents Newsletter

The electronic newsletter for January is now available. A one year newsletter archive is also available.

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(January 1, 2009)

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Phase Author on Radio Dec. 27

Helen F. Neville will be featured Dec. 27 on “Childhood Matters: Is This a Phase?” from 9 to 10 a.m. on Green 960 AM and streamed live on www.childhoodmatters.org. In this rebroadcast of an earlier program, Rona Renner and pediatrician Peter Levine will join Nurse Neville in discussing the wide range of normal development and ways to know when it’s time to get more help for a child.

(Dec. 17, 2008)

Seattle’s Child Raves, and Raves, and Raves about Is This a Phase?

“Here’s a secret for parents of today’s infants through preschoolers: You have it made. Luckily for you, Neville, a registered nurse, shares the vast knowledge and insights she’s gleaned as a parent educator, pediatric advice nurse and infant temperament expert in the comprehensive new guide, Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years, published by Seattle-based Parenting Press.”

So writes Cheryl Murfin in a new review on SeattlesChild.com.

She goes on to describe Is This a Phase? as a “jam-packed, authoritative reference guide” and says, “A book like this would have saved my husband and me a lot of time and worry and taken much of the guesswork out of divining the mysteries of child development.”

Murfin, who also praises Neville’s emphasis on temperament, how it affects a child’s development, and how it affects parenting, concludes, “When my kids were young, the phrase ‘Is this a phase?’ came to my mind at least weekly. Would they ever stop whining? Would she ever start sharing? Was this kid over-emotional? Was I crazy? Would he grow out of hitting or did I have a hoodlum in the family? If only I could have pulled Helen Neville’s book from my shelf.”

(Dec. 9, 2008)

Iowa State Extension Features Grief Story

“Handling Holidays If You’re Grieving,” one of the features in our December “News for Parents,” has been reprinted on Iowa State University’s web site for its West Pottawattamie County Extension office. You can read the full story on our “News for Parents” web page or at www.extension.iastate.edu/westpottawattamie/.

If you create a newsletter or web-based publication, you’re welcome to reprint or excerpt from our newsletter articles; we ask only that you include our contact and copyright information and a reference to “News for Parents.”

(Dec. 9, 2008)

Frazzled by Holidays? Calming Cards Recommended

Feeling frazzled? Frenzied? Frustrated? Then pick up a set of our Self-Calming Cards, which just received rave reviews from a Seattle blogger at “A Day That Is Dessert” and her readers. An excerpt:

“The author, Elizabeth Crary, is a parent educator and author based in Seattle. We loved her talk at our local cooperative preschool, and highly recommend her as a speaker.”

“Oh, those cards are great! I don’t have kids, but I could do with a pack to teach myself a few things. ;)”

“What a perfect idea during the busy seasosn. I’m off to check out the cards.”

You can read the entire blog and all responses at http://www.leciawphinney.com/2008/11/self-calming-cards.html.

(Dec. 1, 2008)

"News for Parents" Editor Quoted

How do new moms—or moms in new communities—find friends for themselves and their young children? That's the topic of “Making mom friends in three easy steps,” just posted to Baby Center, babycenter.com. Among those quoted is Linda Carlson, who creates our free monthly, News for Parents. Her “new baby” group, which continues to meet twice monthly, is now in its 23rd year. (Most of the original new babies are now graduating from college, and instead of teething and toilet-training, the moms are now discussing first jobs and first apartments.)

(Nov. 12, 2008)

Bloggers Full of Compliments

“Love love love [The Way I Feel],” blogged Jo's 101 in 1001, pointing out, “The pictures are excellent at characterizing the different feelings that we all go through in life.”

“When I read The Way I Feel to the children of my grandsons’ preschool, every child was fascinated,” a New Mexico reader recently said about Janan Cain’s book. “As an adult, I might not have been overly impressed, but the important impression is the one it makes on kids. The words and the art in this book give kids permission to feel their feelings—not to act on them, but to feel. I ordered several as gifts for the children in my life.”

“Beautiful illustrations,” says kiddieliter.com, a blog created by students of children’s literature at Lander University (Greenwood, S.C.) about The Way I Feel. “Perfect for children learning about poetry,” it continues about the book, coming soon in Spanish (see our earlier post below).

Another blogger, mandeeandbrandy.blogspot.com, also praises The Way I Feel, commenting, “It’s important to teach children that it’s okay to be angry or sad. It’s okay to get excited and to be happy. . .”

When kids suffer from separation anxiety, turn to Elizabeth Crary’s Mommy, Don’t Go, recommends idaalfaiz.multiply.com, which the blogger calls among the most helpful of Crary’s problem-solving books for young children.

Two other Crary books, When When You’re Shy and You Know It, and When You’re Silly and You Know It, are also recommended on imperfectparent.com (scroll down). Reviewer Charity R. Bartley Howard reminds readers how important it is to read even to infants, and she describes how much fun it is to use these and the two other Feelings for Little Children board books to sing to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”

(October 27, 2008; updated Nov. 10 & 19, Dec. 1)

New PEP Talk Discusses Abuse, Internet, Anxiety

What’s normal behavior in kids and what signals sexual abuse? How can parent educators save time and money by using the Internet? How can parents prepare young children for separations? And what are child anxiety disorders?

You’ll find these issues and many more discussed in the Fall 2008 issue of PEP Talk, our quarterly for parent educators, early childhood professionals, teachers and social workers. To subscribe—only $10 annually—see www.ParentingPress.com/peptalk.html. You can also purchase single issues for $5.

(October 23, 2008)

Plan Ahead to Promote Spanish The Way I Feel

We at Parenting Press are delighted to announce that early in 2009 you’ll be able to buy our all-time best-selling The Way I Feel in Spanish.

If you are a library or bookstore, consider introducing this new edition of Janan Cain’s book with a Fish Lips Face Photo Contest. A humorous (sometimes hilarious) way to get children and their parents through your doors, it’s an ideal program for those dreary winter months. With this contest, Parenting Press provides gift books as prizes when kids imitate the goofy face on the cover of The Way I Feel.

Rules are simple; all you have to do is publicize the contest and display a cover of the book for at least a month prior to selecting the “fishiest face.” Before scheduling your Fish Lips Face Photo Contest, please check with us to determine when copies of the Spanish edition will be available. (Or run the contest any time with the English edition!)

(September 26, 2008)

Iowa State University Publication Quotes Brown, Hopkins

In “A New Look At Temper Tantrums”, a Sept. 3 publication, Iowa State University quotes Parenting Press authors: “Therapists Jennifer Brown and Pam Provonsha Hopkins, authors of What Angry Kids Need: Parenting Your Angry Child Without Going Mad, point out that parents commonly discount the intensity behind a child’s feelings because they view the world through an adult lens; they forget to account for a child’s lack of experience and maturity. A young child doesn’t necessarily understand that the park will still be there tomorrow and that opportunities for playing will abound."

(September 4, 2008)

Hear Helen Neville’s Advice from Sept. 14 broadcast

If you missed Helen F. Neville’s on-air advice when she guested on “Childhood Matters” Sept. 14, click through to http://www.childhoodmatters.org/2008.html for the recording of the Q & A session. Or pick up a copy of her Is This a Phase? Child Development & Parent Strategies, Birth to 6 Years, full of this pediatric advice nurse’s information and practical recommendations.

(August 25, 2008; updated Sept. 26, 2008)

25 Things to Do Called “Great Gift”

25 Things to Do When Grandpa Passes Away, Mom and Dad Get Divorced, or the Dog Dies, written by Laurie A. Kanyer, was called “a great gift to any child facing difficult times” in the August issue of Wisconsin Bookwatch.

“The activities are all easy to do and will help children come to terms with the world,” continued the review, which cited the book’s importance for children dealing with “radical and likely irrevocable” change such as death or divorce.

(August 25, 2008)

NPR Features Angry Kids Author

How she and co-author Jennifer Anne Brown met, and how they worked together with angry children and on their new book, What Angry Kids Need, are among the topics discussed in a 20-minute interview with Pam Provonsha Hopkins on KUOW-AM, the Seattle NPR affiliate.

Recorded in mid-July, Hopkins’ interview, “Understanding Childhood Anger,” is available at www.kuow.org.

One of the points explored by host Dave Beck was Hopkins’ work with autistic children. These children often have many anger issues due to their language disabilities, she explained, emphasizing, “Imagine how angry you might be if you had no way to communicate, if you had all these emotions trapped within you?”

With any angry child, human touch and eye contact are important, Hopkins continued, and for adults, both parents and professionals, self-care is vital.

For more information about Hopkins, see her online media kit. For more information about Parenting Press’s resources on autism, see the comments below on the Summer issue of PEP Talk and the use of The Way I Feel.

(July 22, 2008)

Download Our New Book on Internet Safety

How much do you know about phishing? Spoofing? Social networking? Cyber bullies? We’ve provided an overview to all of these Internet issues in our Internet Safety and Your Family (media kit), available 24/7 from our web site as a PDF. Download now and you’ll save $5—simply type “Safety” in the “Promotional Code” box when you check out.

If you’d prefer a paperback edition of Internet Safety and Your Family, you may order through Amazon.com.

(July 14, 2008/updated July 22, 2008)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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