New Books of Interest & Where to Find Our Library

Our attractive new lobby cabinetry has given the lending library a new convenient home. The books are in the shallow cupboard just below the sign-in area. The three shelves are labeled by general topic areas. Parents may borrow a book for 3 weeks. We will continue featuring a few books each month on the counter top, but please know that there are lots more helpful resources for you behind the cupboard doors.

If you'd like to check out a book, please put your name and phone number on the card that can be found in each book. Put the filled out card in the Library Cards envelope hanging inside the library cabinet door. When you return a book, please leave it lying flat on the counter, and I will check it in for you and put it back where it belongs. Thanks! Also, if you would like any resource recommendation about any child rearing/development topic, I'm happy to refer specific helpful titles for your consideration. Now for some descriptions of our newest books :-).

Six new titles have recently been added to Kidspace's Parenting Resource Library. Below are some brief content reviews of these books to pique your interest.

• No Regrets Parenting, Turning Long days and Short Years Into Cherished Moments With Your Kids, by Harley A Rotbart, MD :  If you are going to pick just one parenting book to spend your valuable time with, this may be it. Written by an experienced parent who is also a pediatrician with over 30 years in practice, it's about finding time and balance in this crazy juggling act we call contemporary life with kids. It's made every best book list in the genre, and even the editor-in-chief of Parents magazine says, "Dr. Rotbart's book turned my head around." The potential for improving your quality of life with kids in the short time you have is enormous. A self-described "how-to manual for time-management with kids, from crib through college," it aims to "help you navigate the mundane, exhausting routines of parenthood, and show you how to transform those routines into special parenting events. It's all about redefining 'quality time,' and that means understanding the important difference between minutes and moments." Dr. Rotbart has organized the book into small one to two page topical sections and suggests perhaps "the bathroom can be an ideal spot to keep this little volume," or in the car for when you're waiting to pick someone up, or the night stand for before bed inspiration. It's not written to be read cover to cover. Part 1 is about basic principles such as "Guilt and Worries," "Listening," "Staying Sane," "Money," etc. Part 2 provides specific strategies to try in areas of School (Book Club), Work (Business Trips and Career Days), Sleep (Pajama Walks!!), Food (Taco Night), Getting There, Play, the Outdoors, etc.  And Part 3 covers parenting college age kids (oh man, where was this book when my kid graduated high school!?). KJ Dell-Antonia of the New York Times writes, "My office is littered with 'parenting books' . . . The books, as abundant as they are, aren't helping. But Dr. Rotbart's No Regrets Parenting is something special . . ."

•  The Elephant In The Living Room, Make Television Work For Your Kids, by Dimitri A. Christakis, MD MPH and Frederick J. Zimmerman, PhD:  This resource was written by the directors of the Child Health Institute at the University of Washington.The book aims at helping parents avoid the documented negative effects of media screen time: shorter attention spans, poor nutritional choices, risky behaviors, aggression, consumerist attitudes, and sleep problems. It poses helpful guidelines for appropriate length of viewing time and content that that is not so detrimental to children and families. I am most familiar with the work of Dimitri Christakis. Dr. Christakis is a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children's Hospital. His research focusing on media screen time gives parents the important information they need to make sound viewing decisions and understand the influence screen time has upon children's brain structure, thinking and behaviors. Here is a link to Dr. Christakis' TEDx Talk about the documented effects of children's screen time and exposure to typical media.

• Simplicity Parenting:  Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More secure Kids, by Kim John Pyne, MEd with Lisa M. Ross:  Feeling stressed, cluttered, rushed, overwhelmed? This book promises to help families scale back the insane pace and common drains on time, energy, and feeling of well-being. If you'd like supportive ideas to help change the rhythms of your days and re-structure your family's environment to work more smoothly for all of you, this book offers myriad ideas. Chapter headings are:  Why Simplify?, Soul Fever, Environment, Rhythm, Schedules, Filtering Out the Adult World, and Simplicity Parenting to go.

• Essentialism:  the Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown:  This is not a parenting book, but a New York Times Bestseller on the theme of trading the undisciplined pursuit of "more" for the disciplined pursuit of "less-but-better." This book is aimed at folks in business, but the principles transfer very well to busy parents trying to run a family. A good companion read to Simplicity Parenting, perhaps. The book is practical in prescribing the cure for setting one's focus on what is essential to avoid or overcome the trap of doing too much yet not accomplishing your most important goals. If you feel spread thin, Essentialism may speak to you.

• Different Learners:  Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Your Child's Learning Problems, by Jane M. Healy, PhD:  Dr. Healy is a pioneering pediatric neuropsychologist who authored the 1987 groundbreaking work Your Child's Growing Mind, A Guide to Learning and Brain Development from Birth to Adolescence (available now in the greatly expanded 3rd edition and still the definitive work). In Different Learners, Dr. Healy offers solid information to parents who notice or are informed by school personnel that their child is showing signs of have developmental or learning differences. She notes that, "Our culture is sick and our children are getting the diagnosis. . . We live in a culture that is both clueless and careless about what kids' brains really need. No wonder there is trouble in the school room. Each child is a complex, growing, learning system who develops as part of a much larger system including home, school, neighborhood, the supports available (or not), and the habits and expectations of the surrounding society. Learning differences, which are the cause of many school and personal problems, are variations in the way the brain processes information. They include academic, personal (as in attention or motivation problems), and socials skills. These patterns are caused both by genes ("nature") and the environment ("nurture"). Both can be influenced by a child's experiences before and after birth. Just because something is genetic, or inherited, does not mean that it is either inevitable or unchangeable. Nor does it mean that when problems arise, medications are the only solution. Emotional development, which is one important aspect of learning, is tightly intertwined in the brain with academic and social learning. Stress is a significant and often underestimated contributor to children's learning problems, and love is a powerful remedy. In our efforts to make kids "smarter," we must not forget that brain development is closely tied to the development of the body. Neglecting play and perceptual and motor skill development may endanger foundations for other types of learning. The human brain is wonderfully plastic' and can be altered by experience. Never give up. The brain retains its ability to change throughout a lifetime." If you are concerned, this is a reassuring, helpful book to turn to.

• Smart Parenting for Smart Kids:  Nurturing Your Child's True Potential, by Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD and Mark S. Lowenthal, PsyD: ". . .many bright children face special challenges. Some are driven by perfectionism. Some are afraid of effort, because they're used to instant success. Some routinely butt heads with authority figures. Some struggle to get along with their peers. Some are outwardly successful but just don't feel good about themselves. Smart Parenting for Smart Kids is a practical and compassionate book that explains the reasons behind these struggles and offers parents strategies to help children cope with feelings, embrace learning, and build satisfying relationships."

If you've discovered a book that you've really liked or found helpful, please share the information with everyone in our comments section below. Thanks!