The Biscuit Girls


Hunter Davies - 2014
    To those who didn’t know, the biscuit factory that towered over Carlisle might look like just another slice of the industrial North, a noisy and chaotic place with workers trooping in and out at all hours. For the biscuit girls it was a place where they worked hard, but also where they gossiped, got into scrapes and made lifelong friends. Outside the factory walls there might be difficult husbands or demanding kids, and sometimes even heartbreak and tragedy, but they knew there would always be an escape from their troubles at Carr's. Some, like Barbara, only applied because she needed the extra cash, until things got a bit easier at home. Her supervisor cross examined her about who would be looking after the kids while she was at work, but let her have the job. Like many of the women who joined up ‘temporary’ Barbara went on to stay at Carrs for 32 years.Beginning in the 1940s, these heartwarming and vividly-remembered stories have all been told by the women themselves to Hunter Davies.

Mom, Jason's Breathing on Me!: The Solution to Sibling Bickering


Anthony E. Wolf - 2003
    You might never again have to hear the words: "Mommy, Ann drooled on me on purpose." You could have the answer for every "It's not fair!" your kids have ever whined at you. Constant sibling squabbling--and the ensuing demand that you pick a side, quick--can wear parents down and totally drain the fun right out of family life. Now in this groundbreaking book, Dr. Anthony Wolf offers a whole new strategy for coping. In a fresh, funny, and straightforward way, Dr. Wolf presents three essential rules for dealing with sibling arguments--rules that, if followed, completely remove the root causes of bickering. From teasing and hitting to rivalries and boundaries, Dr. Wolf addresses a wide range of issues, and he does it with humor and a pitch-perfect ear for actual kid/parent dialogue. This is a book about real children--who they are, what they want, why they act as they do, and what you can do to alleviate the strife between siblings.

My Boy, Their Son (Kindle Single)


Mariah MacCarthy - 2019
    But that doesn’t make saying goodbye any easier. From the hit true storytelling podcast RISK! comes a beautiful and heart-aching memoir of a mother’s love.Mariah MacCarthy was a financially strapped playwright in Queens with two roommates. Nothing about that situation said Let’s add a baby to this. Nine months later, having Leo adopted by two gay dads was the most loving solution possible. All Mariah fears now is becoming a stranger. But as four lives are irrevocably changed, Mariah discovers that embracing the moment of farewell is just the beginning of a family story, by turns joyous and devastating.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child/Your Fussy Baby Boxed Set: A Step-By-Step Program for a Good Night's Sleep/How to Soothe Your Newborn


Marc Weissbluth - 2004
    This must-have boxed set contains the trade paperback editions of Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child, a step-by-step program for a good night's sleep, and Your Fussy Baby, how to soothe your newborn.Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy ChildOne of the country's leading researchers updates his revolutionary approach to solving--and preventing--your children's sleep problems. Dr. Weissbluth outlines proven strategies that ensure good, healthy sleep for every age. This distinguished pediatrician and father of four explains with authority and reassurance his step-by-step regime for instituting beneficial habits within the framework of your child's natural sleep cycles.Your Fussy BabyIf your new baby cries inconsolably for many hours a day, take heart. The soothing help you need is here.Renowned pediatrician Dr. Marc Weissbluth knows firsthand how stressful life can be for a sensitive, fussy newborn-not to mention the child's frantic, exhausted parents. With this reassuring, down-to-earth guidance, you can help your fretful, fussy newborn to become the sweet, happy baby he or she was meant to be.

Until We All Come Home: A Harrowing Journey, a Mother's Courage, a Race to Freedom


Kim De Blecourt - 2012
    Nothing, however, could have prepared de Blecourt for the twisted nightmare she would endure. During her year-long struggle to extricate her newly adopted little boy from that post-Soviet country's corrupt social service and judicial systems, de Blecourt was insulted, physically assaulted, and arrested. Worse, her months of loneliness, worry, and fear drove her to the brink of spiritual despair. But God had no intention of abandoning de Blecourt or her family. Her amazing story-culminating in a spine-chilling race to freedom-offers dramatic proof that God's light shines on even in the deepest darkness.

Inside Transracial Adoption


Gail Steinberg - 2000
    Acknowledging white identity issues for transracial adopters and demonstrating predictable milestones in the journey toward adulthood for transracially-adopted infants, preschoolers, school-age children, teens and young adults, Inside Transracial Adoption offers provocative information, valuable resources and practical tools to support families in fostering the development of racial identity of children of color and in the strengthening of family connections. An early reader commented "Singularly this book has given me more hope about parenting (my daughter) than all the social workers, therapists and teachers have put together. I wept tears of relief as I read this book. Not only did you name it, but you truly understand what living with a transracially adopted child is like. And! you give suggestions and solutions!!! Thank you!"

A Girl Raised by Wolves: An inspiring memoir of one woman's journey through sex trafficking, cancer, murder and more.


Lockey Maisonneuve - 2018
    town, an adolescent girl is unwittingly handed a one-way ticket by her mother to allegedly "visit" her estranged father in Florida. Young and vulnerable, Lockey Maisonnueve has no idea she is being abandoned and sent to live with a vile and dangerous pedophile who would spend the next several years violently raping, abusing and mercilessly selling his daughter's body into childhood prostitution to other adult men. After being rescued by her naive, but well-intentioned, grandparents, her troubled life is further devastated by cancer and ravaged by the subsequent brutal murder of her mother, in which Lockey is briefly considered a suspect. "A Girl Raised by Wolves' is the inspirational memoir of a survivor of the darkest circumstances one can endure in a single lifetime and still emerge with a sense of humor and to defiantly proclaim "they didn't break me!"

The New Rules of Pregnancy: What to Eat, Do, Think About, and Let Go Of While Your Body Is Making a Baby


Adrienne L. Simone - 2019
    In The New Rules of Pregnancy, two leading OB-GYNs guide you, the modern pregnant woman, through all aspects of pregnant life in an easy-to-digest, compassionate, and motivating way. Instead of a detailed week-by-week look at your baby’s development, it’s all about you, and how to help your pregnancy go as smoothly as possible. It assumes an intelligent, busy reader (who, somewhere inside, is shouting, “Just tell me what to do!”). Every aspect of pregnant life is covered—from the practical details (how to fly pregnant) to the complex issues (“What makes it postpartum depression?”). The book also covers that critical “fourth trimester”—“Nursing” and “How to Feel Like Yourself Again”—because once the baby is born, self-care typically goes out the window, and you really need someone to have your back. Its strong point of view and expertise come from gynecologist Adrienne Simone and obstetrician Jaqueline Worth—two renowned New York doctors dedicated to bringing patients the safest, calmest, least invasive pregnancies possible. The book’s voice—motivating, supportive, real—comes from Danielle Claro, coauthor of The New Health Rules.

The Whole Life Adoption Book: Realistic Advice for Building a Healthy Adoptive Family


Jayne E. Schooler - 1993
    Schooler and Thomas C. Atwood share insights into every aspect of adoption. This powerful resource addresses the needs and concerns facing adoptive parents while offering encouragement for the journey ahead.

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: (Parenting. Marriage. Madness)


Clint Edwards - 2015
    The truth, of course, is that no parent knows what he or she is doing--not even Mel--and that's part of the fun as well as the horror. The short chapters either recount specific stories from the front lines ("The Day We Caught Our Kids Looking At Their Butt Holes," "She Sent Me to the Store for Feminine Hygiene Products") or take the form of lists--numbered observations, warnings, or words of wisdom ("5 things I Never Should Have Said To My Pregnant Wife," "10 Contradictions That Make Me Want to Run From My Minivan And Into The Woods"). Edwards is invariably funny, wry, and self-deprecating. Parenting and marriage, as he describes them, are humbling, in both the worst (lots of poop and vomit) and best (personal growth) ways. If you are a parent, husband, wife, or thinking about any of these roles, this book is for you. It will make you laugh. It will make you think. It will make you cry. Sometimes all three at the same time.

Love and Logic Magic: When Kids Drain Your Energy (Parenting with Love and Logic) by Jim Fay (2004) Audio CD


Jim Fay - 2004
    When it comes to helping parents raise honest, responsible, successful kids, Jim Fay is the master! The stories and examples on this audio will give parents techniques they can use in the heat of battle…without breaking a sweat. Parenting should be full of love and fun. With Jim’s help, you will get the skills and techniques to make it happen! by Jim Fay Audio CD, 60 min.

The Year of Learning Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling


Quinn Cummings - 2012
    What could possibly go wrong? In this honest and wry memoir, popular blogger, author, and former child actor Quinn Cummings recounts her family’s decision to wade into the unfamiliar waters of homeschooling – the fastest-growing educational trend of our time -- despite a chronic lack of discipline, some major gaps in academic knowledge, and a serious case of math aversion. (And that’s just Quinn.) Quinn’s fearless quest includes some self-homeschooling – reading up on education reform, debating the need for “socialization,” and infiltrating conferences filled with Radical Unschoolers as well as Christian fundamentalists (and even chaperoning a homeschool prom). Part personal narrative, part social commentary, and part how-not-to guide, The Year of Learning Dangerously will make you laugh and make you think. And there may or may not be a quiz at the end. OK, there’s no quiz. Probably.

There's No Such Thing As 'Naughty': The groundbreaking guide for parents with children aged 0-5


Kate Silverton - 2021
    Want to know the secret to tackling tantrums and tears, stopping squabbles in seconds AND lay the foundations for your child's good mental health in the process?In There's No Such Thing As 'Naughty', mum to two young children, journalist and children's mental health advocate Kate Silverton shares her groundbreaking new approach to parenting under-fives that helps to make family life so much easier and and certainly a lot more fun!Kate's unique strategies, easy-to-follow scripts and simple techniques will enable you to manage those tricky everyday challenges with ease - and help you to enjoy the strongest bond possible with your child, both now and in the years ahead.Endorsed by leading figures in the field of children's mental health, at the heart of the book is a simple and revelatory way to understand how your child's brain develops and how it influences their behaviour.Rooted in the latest science - explained really simply - this engaging, accessible and warm parenting guide will redefine how you see and raise your children, with a new understanding that for under-fives, there can be no such thing as 'naughty'.

What Wendell Wants: Or, How to Tell if You're Obsessed with Your Dog


Jenny Lee - 2004
    I Did. Now What?! Now it's time for her to write about the real love of her life: Wendell. Her dog.*Do you talk about your dog non-stop? *Do you suspect your dog is a genius? *Do you name each of your dog's toys?*Does your dog get more heavy petting than your spouse? *Do all holidays revolve around your dog? If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you probably have a healthy admiration for your dog. But if all of the scenarios in What Wendell Wants sound familiar, well, it's obvious that your appreciation of your pooch has truly crossed the line into true love--dysfunctional, sure, but who cares?! Jenny Lee knows this obsession inside and out, and her advice is not to fight it: there's simply no cure. Instead, she offers hysterical accounts of her own experiences--from fretting over her dog's haircut to getting his portrait painted a la Picasso to trying desperately to impress the Bed & Biscuit dog kennel--to give all kindred dog-loving spirits out there some consolation that they're not alone.From the Hardcover edition.

Beyond Time-Out: From Chaos to Calm


Beth A. Grosshans - 2008
    TV’s Supernanny regularly captures kids wildly, unbelievably out of control. How did our families get to such a state? Child psychologist Dr. Beth Grosshans has the answer. And mothers and fathers everywhere are listening. In what is sure to become a much-discussed blockbuster, Dr. Grosshans reveals why she believes nearly a half-century of parenting advice—with its emphasis on talking, exalting children’s self-esteem, and time-outs—is largely to blame for today’s lack of discipline. Her innovative ideas and techniques challenge this prevailing culture, proving that power and authority are as essential as love and good intentions to effective parenting. She persuasively explains why kids can only grow up healthy and strong when firmly led by their parents’ experience and better judgment, and provides a clear, easy five step program to follow. She enables parents to look at themselves clearly and identify their child-rearing style; they are often shocked to discover how their own behavior has inadvertently caused an imbalance in the family’s structure. Reading Beyond Time-Out is akin to sitting with Dr. Grosshans in her clinical office—and her core truths about healthy parent-child relationships are timeless.