Parents & Educators

A practical guide that encourages families to return to the basics of parenting in order to raise happy, respectful, and loving children.
 

"This character-development book will appeal to not only parents and guardians but educators as well." - Library Journal
"Many will feel grounded by this book." - Booklist

The rules and guidelines for raising families in our crisis-oriented, communication overloaded, high-pressure culture are changing by the minute. Yet, the fundamental principles of effective parenting remain. As parents seek to support children who are learning to hold their own in today's divided society, they need reassuring and consistent information on how to keep their family going in the right direction.

In Steadfast Parenting: How to Raise Children of Character, educator, counselor, mother, and grandmother Patricia McGann shares practical advice for parents as they navigate the bumpy, unpredictable road of parenting. With a special focus on building a positive relationship between parents and children, McGann returns to the basics for how to raise happy, healthy, and kind kids. She walks parents through the family, social, and school issues for each stage of development--infants, toddlers, elementary-aged, tweens, and teens--reminding parents throughout that they should trust their instincts and enjoy the small, shiny moments that occur along the way.

Steadfast Parenting encourages parents to abandon the desire to follow society's ridiculous expectations for them and their little ones. Instead, parents and children can and should appreciate the relationship that is uniquely theirs. Referring to this guide time and again, parents can find reassurance and helpful advice as they raise children of integrity who will contribute in a meaningful way to the world in which we live.

From potty-training expert and social worker Jamie Glowacki, who’s already helped over half a million families successfully toilet train their preschoolers, comes a newly revised and updated guide that’s “straight-up, parent-tested, and funny to boot” (Amber Dusick, author of Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures).

Worried about potty training? Let Jamie Glowacki, potty-training expert, show you how it’s done. Her six-step, proven process to get your toddler out of diapers and onto the toilet has already worked for tens of thousands of kids and their parents.

Here’s the good news: your child is probably ready to be potty trained EARLIER than you think (ideally, between 20–30 months), and it can be done FASTER than you expect (most kids get the basics in a few days—but Jamie’s got you covered even if it takes a little longer). If you’ve ever said to yourself:

-How do I know if my kid is ready?
-Why won’t my child poop in the potty?
-How do I avoid “potty power struggles”?
-How can I get their daycare provider on board?
-My kid was doing so well—why is he regressing?
-And what about nighttime?!

Oh Crap! Potty Training can solve all of these (and other) common issues. This isn’t theory, you’re not bribing with candy, and there are no gimmicks. This is real-world, from-the-trenches potty training information—all the questions and all the answers you need to do it once and be done with diapers for good.

A down-to-earth, actionable guide that culls through the chaos of information and misinformation into digestible, accessible chapters that balances proven science with the demands of being a busy new parent of toddler.

Congratulations! You’ve survived the first twelve months of parenthood, along with all the joys, worry, and sleep deprivation they bring. Welcome to the toddler years—and a whole new set of challenges. From toilet training, picky eating, and naptime to separation anxiety, screen time, and (whisper it) tantrums, toddlerhood brings developmental milestones and decisions that can feel totally daunting, especially in this golden age of mommy bloggers, parenting podcasts, and fear-mongering posts. How can you feel confident and empowered in your choices when there is so much at stake?

As both an experienced pediatrician and a mother, Rebekah Diamond understands the need for a child rearing approach that keeps things simple, without sacrificing science or safety. Just as she did in her first book, Parent Like a Pediatrician, which focused on your baby’s first year, she cuts through the noise to tackle the wonders and hardships of raising a toddler. Instead of strict guidelines and overwhelming commands, Dr. Diamond offers advice that is medically sound, inclusive, and realistic for busy parents. There is no single “right” away to parent, but Eat Sleep Tantrum Repeat will show you how to create a way that is right for you and your child, and make these toddler years safe, science-approved, and joyful.

Help kids develop a positive relationship with food, so they can become healthy and adventurous eaters for life!

Is your child a picky eater? Do they insist on having the same foods served over and over again? Be it chicken nuggets, pizza, pancakes, or French fries--if your child is only eating a few foods regularly, their diet may be seriously lacking in the nutrition and vitamins they need to grow and be healthy. And you may feel stressed out and frustrated at mealtime. For many kids, picky eating is a sensory issue--whether it's the smell, taste, texture, or appearance of food. So, how can you help your child overcome these sensory sensitivities and ensure that they get the nourishment they need?

Written by a pediatric occupational therapist with a specialty certification in feeding, eating, and swallowing, Raising Adventurous Eaters offers eight evidence-based sensory strategies to help kids foster a healthy relationship with food. You'll learn all about how picky eating can be caused by sensory processing differences, and find step-by-step strategies for dealing with each sense. By learning to lean into their senses, children will better understand what's going on in their bodies. This fosters an intuitive eating approach, teaching kids to listen to their body's hunger and fullness cues and respect and respond to those cues appropriately.

Whether or not your child has a diagnosis of sensory processing disorder (SPD), or simply has sensory sensitivities when it comes to food, this book will help you set your child up for successful mealtimes, turning the most stressful time of the day into a time that your family can spend relaxing and bonding together around the table.

2024 Zibby Awards, Best Book for Parents selection

2024 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist, Family & Relationship

2024 American Book Fest Best Book Award Finalist, Parenting

Gather your party, it’s time to level up your parenting game!

For years, millions of fans have looked to the beloved roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons for fun, friendship, and entertainment. And now parents and parents-to-be can use D&D to gain inspiration and how-to when it comes to their most challenging and rewarding role yet. Dungeon Masters are not just expert storytellers and arbiters of the rules, they’re compassionate, creative, quick-thinking leaders who embody the same traits that make a great parent.

Where do you find an adventuring party who will have your back? What must-have starting equipment should you own before venturing into babyland? How does your gaming style reflect your parenting style? You don’t have to know how to be a Dungeon Master to master parenting—just think like one. Kids may not come with rulebooks, but now their parents do.

Chip Leighton started performing online as a lark, and not because he "craved validation through TikTok" as his daughter claimed (with snark). When sharing the funny, weird, crazy things his kids said and texted, he quickly learned he was not alone. Since launching, his channel has become the go-to support group for adults who have teenagers in their lives--wholly confirming that teens everywhere say the darndest things. Parents worldwide use Leighton's posts to laugh, commiserate, and share their own kids' classics, like "what time is noon" or "do I have medicare?" What a relief to learn that it's perfectly normal for teens to roast their parents mercilessly ("Don't wear mom jeans to my school again") or ask wild questions ("where do I buy pasta water"). In this debut collection, Leighton showcases these gems, along with tongue-in-cheek advice, charts and graphs, and silly quizzes. For readers who appreciate the real-life humor of books like Sh*t My Dad Says or the standup of family-friendly comedians like Jim Gaffigan or Nate Bargatze, this book is the ultimate gift for parents, kids, or anyone who likes to laugh.

“Our education systems are shortchanging far too many teenagers. This book is brimming with insights on how to change that. It’s an engaging, evidence-based, and practical read about how to develop a generation of lifelong learners.”—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again, and host of the podcast Re:Thinking

A powerful toolkit for parents of both checked-out and stressed-out teens that shows exactly what to do (and stop doing) to support their academic and emotional flourishing.
 
Adolescents are hardwired to explore and grow, and learning is mainly how they do this. But a shocking majority of teens are disengaged from school, simultaneously bored and overwhelmed. This is feeding an alarming teen mental health crisis. As kids get older and more independent, parents often feel powerless to help. But fear not, there are evidence-backed strategies to guide them from disengagement to drive, in and out of school.

For the past five years, award-winning journalist Jenny Anderson and the Brookings Institution’s global education expert Rebecca Winthrop have been investigating why so many children lose their love of learning in adolescence. Now, weaving extensive original research with real-world stories of kids who transformed their relationships with learning, they identify four modes of learning that students use to navigate through the shifting academic demands and social dynamics of middle and high school, shaping the internal narratives about their skills, potential, and identity:

• Resister. When kids resist, they struggle silently with profound feelings of inadequacy or invisibility, which they communicate by ignoring homework, playing sick, skipping class, or acting out.

• Passenger. When kids coast along, consistently doing the bare minimum and complaining that classes are pointless. They need help connecting school to their skills, interests, or learning needs.

• Achiever. When kids show up, do the work, and get consistently high grades, their self-worth can become tied to high performance. Their disengagement is invisible, fueling a fear of failure and putting them at risk for mental health challenges.

• Explorer. When kids are driven by internal curiosity rather than just external expectations, they investigate the questions they care about and persist to achieve their goals.
 
Understanding your child’s learning modes is vital for nurturing their ability to become Explorers. Anderson and Winthrop outline simple yet counterintuitive parenting strategies for connecting with your child, tailoring your listening and communication styles to their needs, igniting their curiosity, and building self-awareness and emotional regulation.

"The truth is, the way we choose to co-parent will shape our children's healing and their ability to navigate relationships in the future. For any parent facing this journey, this book is a powerful reminder that our children's hearts deserve the greatest care, even when our own are breaking."--JAIME KING, mother, filmmaker, activist

"I will be recommending this book to many of my consultation clients."--BILL EDDY,LCSW, JD, family therapist, lawyer, mediator, and co-author of BIFF for CoParent Communication, developer of the New Ways for Families® parent skillstraining method, and co-founder of the High Conflict Institute.

In Co-parenting by Design, family law experts Annette Burns and Nicole Siqueiros-Stoutner help divorced or separated parents agree on a plan that reduces conflict over the parenting schedule, holidays, vacations, medical decisions, education, and safety, and equips readers to deal with special situations like parental alienation and substance abuse.

It's stressful to be a divorced or separated parent. You may feel that you're constantly being scrutinized by your co-parent and by the court system. You are expected to be superhuman: to forgive and forget, to be endlessly patient, to be a perfect parent, and to be calm and gracious no matter what. If you feel overwhelmed, you're not alone.

In Co-parenting by Design, Annette Burns and Nicole Siqueiros-Stoutner offer their combined sixty-plus years of experience in family law to help you let go of these unrealistic expectations and successfully navigate the challenges of parenting after divorce or separation. With customizable sample language you can incorporate in your own document, this book makes it easy to draw up a thorough and effective parenting plan or evaluate a plan provided by a parenting coordinator or other court official.

You'll learn how to:

• come to an agreement about the parenting schedule, holidays, and vacations
• address medical decisions, education, safety, your child's possessions, and more
• deal with challenging situations like parental alienation, domestic violence, or your co-parent's substance abuse
• disengage from conflict
• communicate effectively
• reduce stress
• increase your child's sense of security by conveying solidarity
• protect your child's well-being

With a complete parenting plan in place, you'll be prepared manage everyday routines and handle the unexpected. Co-parenting by Design helps you overcome conflict and get back to what matters most: enjoying stress-free time with your child.

A fresh, no-nonsense parenting guide that shows you how to become a great parent (even if you didn’t have one yourself).

Many of us didn’t have a perfect childhood. But it’s never too late (or too early!) to transform into the parent you were always meant to be—grounded, present, intentional, compassionate, and confident. In Parent Yourself First, licensed marriage and family therapist Bryana Kappadakunnel argues that the secret to successful parenting is to UN-learn the wounded patterns you grew up with and create new ways to connect with your child. Parenting from a place of connection may feel unlike anything you experienced as a child or what you thought parenting was meant to be. But the results can be remarkable—and transformative.

As the founder of the popular Conscious Mommy community on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, Kappadakunnel explains that your upbringing is probably impacting your parenting style in ways you don’t even fully recognize, from how you manage your own emotions to how you connect with your kids in their vulnerable moments. In Parent Yourself First, she shares powerful stories from the families she’s counseled and practical tools for managing common parenting woes like tantrums and defiance. Her promise: You can break free of past patterns that no longer serve you and liberate your soul from old traumas and wounds.

Everyone has baggage. But it’s your responsibility to make sure your baggage doesn’t become your child’s problem. Healing yourself allows you to truly connect with your child; understand their needs; and guide them to live the happy, authentic life that they deserve.

“A glorious, revelatory book.”—Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of An Immense World

“A beautiful, transformative book about being a parent in a world that rejects frailty and weakness.”—Rachel Aviv, staff writer at the New Yorker

A paradigm shifting look at the landscape of disabled parenting—the joys, stigma, and discrimination—and how disability culture holds the key to transforming the way we all raise our kids.

Jessica Slice’s disability is exactly what her child needed as a newborn. After becoming disabled a handful of years prior from a shift in her autonomic nervous system, Jessica had done the hard work of disentangling her worth from productivity and learning how to prepare for an unpredictable and fragile world. Despite evidence to the contrary, nondisabled people and systems often worry that disabled people cannot keep kids safe and cared for, labeling disabled parents “unfit,” but disabled parents and culture provide valuable lessons for rejecting societal rules that encourage perfectionism and lead to isolation.

Blending her experience of becoming disabled in adulthood and later becoming a parent with interviews, social research, and disability studies, Slice describes what the landscape is like for disabled parents. From expensive or non-existent adaptive equipment to inaccessible healthcare and schools to the terror of parenting while disabled in public and threat of child protective services, Slice uncovers how disabled parents, out of necessity, must reject the rules and unrealistic expectations that all parents face. She writes about how disabled parents are often more prepared than nondisabled parents to navigate the uncertainty of losing control over bodily autonomy. In doing so, she highlights the joy, creativity, and radical acceptance that comes with being a disabled parent.

While disabled parents have been omitted from mainstream parenting conversations, Slice argues that disabled bodies and minds give us the hopeful perspectives and solutions we need for transforming a societal system that has left parents exhausted, stuck, and alone.