I read the press release of these new books with great interest especially when it mentioned "...the books illustrate everyday scenarios that can challenge parents and young children: getting ready in the morning, sharing toys, and going to bed at night. Along with simple dialogue and full-color illustrations, the books include color-coded text to cue parents about positive language to use with their children. The ParentSmart/KidHappy series teaches four positive parenting techniques: (1) how to validate a child’s feelings, (2) how to offer choices, (3) how to promote problem-solving skills, and (4) how to encourage alternative behavior."
So I immediately wrote in asking whether there is any possibilities of me reviewing the printed copies of these awesome books and a month later, these books arrived safely into our hands! Yes!!!
Without further ado, here goes my second review for the "ParentSmart/KidHappy™ Series" book entitled "Ready for Bed! A Tale of Cleaning Up, Tucking In, and Hardly Any Complaining":
Title: ParentSmart/KidHappy™ Series (Ready for Bed! A Tale of Cleaning Up, Tucking In, and Hardly Any Complaining)
Author: Stacey R. Kaye, MMR Illustrated: Elizabeth O. Dulemba
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing
ISBN-13/-10: 978-1-57542-269-5
Paperback: 32 pages
Dimension: 8 1/4" x 8 1/4"
Description from the product page:
" “I don’t want to go to bed!” If you’re a parent of a preschool-age child, you’ve probably heard this before. And you probably know about the crying, fits, and complaining—by both of you—that can follow. Ready for Bed! offers healthy, lasting solutions for a stress-free bedtime routine.
This book, and others in the series, provides a BONUS for parents and caregivers. With honesty and gentle humor, Ready for Bed! shows how to handle typical bedtime struggles by modeling three parenting techniques using color-coded text to teach the language of positive parenting:
* Giving encouragement
* Validating feelings
* Offering choices
These techniques are explained in detail in a section at the end of the book that is just for adults. The result: you get through bedtime challenges with less stress while building your child's emotional intelligence and your own parenting skills. Ready for Bed! features:
* An engaging, realistic story that will ring true for parents and kids alike
* Easy-to-use techniques and positive language highlighted in color-coded text
* A section just for adults that explains the language of positive parenting
* An easy, fun way to improve parenting skills—by reading with your child
Ready for Bed! is part of the ParentSmart/KidHappy series, the only parenting books intended for grown-ups and kids to share. Reading this book not only teaches adults effective techniques for encouraging bedtime cooperation, it provides a model for kids to follow. "
I love the idea of this book where mummy gently guides her son Marco (the main character in this book) who is not ready for bedtime through a series of choices to make while making them fun and exciting and in the end, able to accomplish her objective to getting her son to sleep.
As I go through the book with my 3 years old son, I can see him nodding in agreement (while displaying sad face because the little boy has to go to bed I guess hahaha!).
I love the beautiful and realistic illustrations! I I love that the ideas the mummy used relates to what I do with my boy on daily basis too, like bathing and brushing his teeth before bedtime and I'd love to try the idea where the mummy let Marco choose his own pyjamas. I let Ben decides when we reached this page and he too chose the crocodile pyjamas and I can see his happy face when Marco wore the same pyjamas!
One particular thing I had to deviate with the book was the part where mummy reads a bedtime story book with Marco. We don't really do that for bedtime, instead we use iPad and go through some of Ben's favorite games and storybook apps. But I think my boy gets the idea that it is a way to bond and get ready for bedtime.
My verdict? Definitely a must have book!
You can get this book from Amazon
and Free Spirit Publishing website.
I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"
