101 Ways to Have Fun, from the Editors of Faithgirlz and Girls' Life magazine

This book is a super cute gift idea for a preteen or teen girl at the start of the summer.  The title says it all - it's page after colorful page of ideas for things to do when you're bored.  It's in an easy-to-read magazine format.

Chapter Topics:  Just for You, Have a Blast with Your BFF, Friend Zone, Mini Makeovers, Super Sleepovers, Throw the Best Bash, Fun Ways to Make $ Fast, Get Active, and Get Crafty.  The chapters are filled with great ideas, recipes, and craft projects that are fun to do.  

The book also gives approximate times of how long each idea will take.  Ideas range in complexity from simple to complicated, and cover a wide variety of topics.  There should be something in here for every girl to find and enjoy.  Plus, since it's from Faithgirlz, this is all good wholesome fun, with nothing overtly religious.

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Four out of Five Stars

Spiritual Warfare for Your Family, by Leighann McCoy

I'm really not sure what to think of this book.  I think that the cover is a bit of a scare tactic - "What you need to know to protect your children."  It doesn't really accurately describe what's in the book.  

Basically, the book is about strengthening your relationship with God through prayer.  I agree with the author's theology.  She doesn't offer a magic wand, nor does she promise that God will make all your problems go away if you just <fill in your own blank.>  She doesn't pay into the prosperity gospel that's become so popular lately, and that alone is enough to make me feel this book is worthwhile.   You're getting actual Bible-based information here, and that's an incredibly valuable component of modern Christian writing.

That said, the first part of the book was very difficult to get through.  It seemed to wander from topic to topic quite a bit.  The last half of the book was better, in my opinion.  Although I will say that much of the advice given in this book is very general.  It's probably better suited for a group book study so that you can discuss these ideas with others and delve deeper into these concepts than this book does.  I think that the book tries to cover too much, and ends up not covering much very well.

Disclaimer:  I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.  

Three out of Five Stars

Planet Middle School, by Kevin Leman

     I'm a big fan of Kevin Leman's works, and so I jumped on this one as soon as I saw it.  This is the first parenting book of his that I've read, and it certainly lived  up to the high standards of his other books.


     Leman, a psychologist, writes about the middle school years from the seasoned perspective of a father of five grown children.  But he also writes of current issues that middle school students face in a world overrun with technology and loosening moral standards.  The book discusses the psychological effect that so many changes at one time have on children of this age.  It explains why your sweet little child has now become unpredictable and confusing to you as a parent.   More importantly, it tells you how to handle frustrating (maddening, blood-pressure-raising) situations in a way that will leave your relationship with your middle schooler intact on the other side.

     This book is full of practical advice that you'll be able to use quickly.  If you're the parent of a middle school student, odds are that you'll be using advice found in this book within 12 hours of reading it.  It's not wishy-washy like some parenting books are.  It gets right down to the nitty gritty and gives you concrete solutions that leave your child feeling respected while you retain your authority as a parent.  

     Leman is respected in the Christian community, but this book really doesn't mention his faith more than a couple of times.  It's a resource that all parents will be able to use.  It's a light read - Leman's style is quite humorous and you will laugh out loud - but it's full of such solid advice that it's really a must-read.

      Five out of Five Stars

Motivate Your Child, by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller

     After years of searching, I have finally found the parenting resource I've been looking for.  Motivate Your Child is the first tool I've seen that finally acknowledges that the conscience of a child needs to be trained before your child is expected to know right from wrong.  Other, more popular, parenting programs assume that your child already has this skill.  And that's a fail, in my opinion, because kids don't always know right from wrong in every occasion.  And for the teachers who are reading this, you already know that there are kids who almost never know right from wrong.  

     This book won't get the credit it is due (A) Because it doesn't have a catchy title and (B) It doesn't have a marketing machine getting it in the hands of every parent and teacher in the country.  What it does have is a keen understanding of what makes children and teens tick.  So it's definitely worth more than a look.

     Here's what you'll get from reading this book:
-    A discussion of a child's conscience and why it needs to
     actually be trained before you can expect a child to
     understand society's rules.

-    An understanding that strong-willed children are already
     internally motivated to do what they want and will naturally

     challenge any other system of reward and consequence

     (even natural consequences) that are put on them.  

-    A guide toward helping your child develop the ability to

     question his/her motives in a difficult situation and to

     analyze not just the appropriateness of his actions, but to

     determine what a better choice would have been.

-    A discussion of natural vs. logical consequences and in

     what cases each technique is more appropriate than the

     other.

-    A guide toward helping your child become a person of  

     integrity who is able to make choices that are best for him

     or her independent of a parent telling them what to do

     every step of the way.

     This is a Christian book.  The second half of the book is a wonderful resource on how to bring more spirituality into your family without being overbearing about it.

     However, the tools in the first half of the book are relevant to anyone, Christian or not.  I personally used suggestions from the first half to help some of my students learn how to make better choices in social interaction.  It worked better than any other technique I've tried in over 15 years of teaching.  

     I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with children.  These authors understand kids better than any other I've read.

     Disclaimer:  I was provided this book by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

     Five out of Five Stars

Women Are Scary, by Melanie Dale

     Women are Scary is ostensibly a book about how to find, make, and keep female friends while managing to be a mother at the same time.  What it ends up being is a humorous memoir about the difficulties that mothers have trying to maintain adult friendships.  Which, as most moms get, is a tough thing to do.

     I'm still not quite sure what to make of this book.  It starts off very funny, but the style started to wear on me after a while.  The author is a blogger, and while I'm sure her writing style is perfect for a blog, I think there just isn't enough substance here to be worthy of a full length book.  The premise is interesting, but you can't buy this book thinking it's going to be full of awesome relationship advice.  For moms out there, truly, I think we know who makes a good fit for us and who doesn't.  It all comes down to the time that we have for socializing.

     This book is valuable if you just want a good bubble-bath kind of a read that's going to cheer you up at the end of a long day full of too much spit-up and not enough adult conversation.  This book is going to remind you that you are fulfilling a very important God-given role, and that you are not the only one who doesn't channel June Cleaver every day.  

     I also appreciate this book because it acknowledges all mothers equally - adoptive, birth, "working", "stay-at-home" and every other label that society has put upon us.  It also has some incredible suggestions for simple charitable works that mothers can do while on play-date outings with each other.  I'll be looking into some of these ideas myself, and the book is worth a read if only for those suggestions.

     Three out of Five Stars

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Smart Money, Smart Kids, by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze

  

   Smart Money, Smart Kids is well worth the read, no pun intended. Speaking as an educator with an undergrad degree in business administration/accounting, I think this book is excellent on two fronts.  First, I think the authors' program for teaching children financial responsibility is both sound and practical.  Second, a parent who follows even half the precepts in this book will be doing a good job of parenting in general.

     The bulk of the book is written by Rachel Cruze, Dave Ramsey's daughter.  She's devoted her career to teaching young people how to prevent financial catastrophe before it happens.  The program she sets forth in this book is basically how she was raised.  She starts with a plan to teach children as young as three how to both earn and save their money.  As the book progresses, the program becomes more involved to allow for older children and teenagers.  But at every level, it is age appropriate and will give your children the gift of financial security.

     Out of the many parenting books I've read, this book has been the best by far in terms of teaching children a good work ethic and responsible living.  The fact that this happens through learning how to manage money is really just a bonus.  I highly recommend this book to anyone with children of any age.

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Five out of Five Stars

Daughters in Danger, by Elayne Bennett

Daughters in Danger, by Elayne Bennett, is purportedly about how we can protect our daughters from the threats of our culture.

There can be no doubt that the girls of today face serious obstacles to their health and well-being.  When I picked this book up, I was hoping for a book that would address ways to help our daughters through these issues.  However, the author tries to tackle too many issues.  As a result, the book is disjointed and full of such generalized advice that it doesn't really add much about raising children that is not already widely known.

The first third of the book is full of cautionary tales and partisan rhetoric, despite the author's later claim that she does not see this as a political issue.  There were a few red flags for me - beginning with the statement that "California... educators have all but banished the Boy Scouts from public facilities."  As a California educator and a Boy Scout mother, I disagree with this, and it didn't set a good tone for the book.  The author also makes a broad generalization about young adults based on a limited survey of high schoolers in her foundation.  As an M.Ed. myself, this left me questioning the rest of her research.

The latter half of the book has some good advice, but it doesn't flow well because the author tries to cover too many topics.  The  good advice is interspersed far too often with more cautionary tales both from real life and from literature and movies.  The advice is also over-simplified, giving few details that a parent who is truly struggling would find useful.

I appreciate the author's attempt, but there are better books that cover the topic of how to raise Christian children in today's world.  Her writing style is good, and I'd love to see her write a book that doesn't try to cover quite so much ground.

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Two out of Five Stars

Love and Respect in the Family, by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Love and Respect in the Family might just be Dr. Eggerichs' best work yet.  I'd been impressed by his Love and Respect, but this volume is more geared toward families with children. It's chock full of guidance on keeping a family on the right track.

Dr. Eggerichs offers his ideas about what he calls the "Family Crazy Cycle" in which children and parents work mutually to drive each other mad. I'm sure most of us have our own ideas about what details drive a family crazy (yes, even Mike and Carol Brady got frustrated at times), Dr. Eggerichs actually shares stories from his own family to drive many of his points home.  It humanizes his advice in a way that a lot of other family and parenting books don't.

The bulk of the book is spent helping parents learn how to be a positive driving force in a family.  There is so much insight on what makes children tick, and how to handle specific situations.  It gives a different, Christ-centered perspective on parenting.

The book is Biblically sound, with plenty of references to appropriate verses and anecdotes.   

I found the book to be a refreshing change from a lot of the other parenting books that are on the market right now.  If I were only able to purchase one book on family life, this would be the one.

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Five out of Five Stars

Saving Beauty From the Beast: How to Protect Your Daughter From an Unhealthy Relationship

           I found this book quite by accident, and I'm glad I did!  Saving Beauty from the Beast: How to Protect Your Daughter from an Unhealthy Relationship, by Vicki Crompton and Ellen Zelda Kessner, is a must-read for any parent.  Whether you have a daughter or a son, the information in this book is vital.  It was written from the perspective of a mother whose daughter was killed as a result of an abusive relationship.  She spent quite a bit of time researching unhealthy relationships in young adults and teens, and this book is a product of that.  I wish I'd read it as a teen.

          The authors identify the different kinds of abusive relationships - emotional, sexual, and physical - and discuss each one in great detail.  They give tips on how to tell if someone you know is being abused.  Even better than that, they help the reader understand what an unhealthy relationship looks like in the early stages, when it's still relatively easy to leave.  They also discuss what happens to a victim's mental state that allows her to continue in a relationship that's bad for her.  Contrary to popular belief, most victims don't remain in that situation by choice. 

          The authors also discuss how to help your child leave an abusive relationship.  They also give information on how to raise your child so that she is less likely to become involved in that relationship in the first place. 

          Out of the several books I've read on this subject, this one is one of the best.  I highly recommend it.

          And for those of you who think it can't happen to you or your child, think again.  You'd be surprised at the kinds of personalities that are likely to be in the victim's position.  If you've trained your daughter to be helpful toward others, or if your child is the strong, save-the-world type, then becoming informed about abusive relationships can be one of the best parenting decisions you can make.

          Five out of Five Stars

How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough

            Paul Tough's How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character is an eye-opening look at what causes students to not only attend college, but to graduate from college.  This book is a must-read for educators and parents alike.

           Reading this book, I felt like Tough was writing what I've been thinking for years.  Intelligence is certainly a key factor in student success, but it isn't everything.  We all know extremely intelligent people who have floundered through life, allowing drugs and other addictions to take the place of worthwhile pursuits.  And we all know less intelligent people who have done extremely well in their chosen fields. 

            What makes the difference?  Tough examines anecdotal evidence and research alike to come to the conclusion that it is character traits that cause people to succeed - not just at college, but in life in general.  These character traits aren't just morals like honesty and generosity.  They are things like stick-to-it-ness (grit), curiosity, and a strong work ethic.

            This book does not answer the question of how to teach people these traits.  But it makes a strong case that they can be learned.  Anyone who does not understand why education is so deeply linked to psychology will learn a great deal from this book.  It is a wonderful springboard for a vital conversation - what should we be teaching our children.

            Well done, Mr. Tough.  Someone finally said it!

Five out of Five Stars

Intentional Parenting, by Sissy Goff, David Thomas, and Melissa Trevathan

Intentional Parenting is by far one of the best parenting books that I have read.  And it's no wonder, since the authors have vast experience at a family counseling center.  So, not only have they been to the circus, they've been the lion tamers as well - so to speak.

In all seriousness, though, this book really does have some amazing ideas on how to approach this journey we call parenting.  Each chapter discusses how to put real thought into parenting.  

Subjects include consistency, playfulness, spirituality, and patience, and hope.  Key concepts that are necessary for parenting with purpose are examined in detail, with real-life anecdotes and ideas for how to improve on each area. 

I loved that age-appropriate ideas are provided throughout the book.  Clearly, a teen requires a different style than a toddler does, and this book recognizes that.  I also loved the questions posed to the reader.  This book really encourages the reader to put thought into his or her parenting style - it's parenting with purpose!  And no matter how you feel you're doing as a parent, this book is going to provide you with tools that you will be able to use for the benefit of your whole family.  And for fans of Love and Logic, the ideas in this book can be used with that program.

As a teacher and a mother, I highly recommend this book to any parent or soon-to-be-parent. 

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Five out of Five Stars

The Christian Mama's Guide to the Grade School Years, by Erin MacPherson

The Christian Mama's Guide to the Grade School Years, by Erin MacPherson, is a humorous account of what it is like to usher a child into the first few years of school.  It is a book geared toward prayerful parenting, and one that many parents would enjoy reading.  It has great ideas, and is certainly written from a meaningful Biblical perspective. 

That being said, it is really less of a guide and more of a parenting memoir.  There are very good ideas in this book, but they are peppered in between lengthy stories about the author's own family.  These stories are cute and can help a parent feel better about not being the only one who is dealing with these kinds of issues, but they can be distracting to a reader who is looking for a more meat-and-potatoes kind of guide.  Even that kind of information skews toward the more humorous side, which can detract from the message.

The author has been a high school teacher and has interviewed people who are experts - the "From the Principal's Office" sections by an experienced principal are the best parts of this book.  But coming from a Christian mother who is also a grade-school teacher, some of the points dealing with school in this book are under covered and even inaccurate (for example, not all private schools give your child access to state-of-the-art techniques - some are so underfunded that students get a substandard education).

The bottom line?  If you're looking for a heavier guide, this isn't the book for you - but you will still get very good parenting tips.  If you're looking for a humorous memoir that will help you get your child ready to enter kindergarten - or help you improve your parenting skills (and can't we all?), then this is the book for you. 

Disclaimer:  I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Four of Five Stars