Parenting

Today's children struggle with a range of issues, from depression and anxiety to poor body image and low self-esteem. In fact, research suggests that at any given time around 10 per cent of students will be suffering from a mental health issue that directly impacts on their education and health. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) (the subject of Dr Russ Harris's bestselling The Happiness Trap) has been proven to be effective in teaching young people effective, flexible strategies for dealing with the stressors in their life an... read more

Whether you have a boy who wants to be a cowboy or a girl who dreams of becoming a princess, you are sure to find the perfect costume in "Cute and Easy Costumes for Kids". As a mother of two young children, crafting expert Emma Hardy knows all about unexpected costumes requests, and has created a collection of fun outfits guaranteed to delight kids and please parents with designs that are so easy to follow. If it's inspiration for Halloween you are after, try the witch or pumpkin, or one of the outfits for wannabe adventurers, like... read more

Newly revised in 2006. Includes new chapters on promoting a child's social and emotional competence and ways to help children be successful in school. This handbook provides parents with guidelines not only to help prevent behavior problems from occurring but also with strategies to promote children's social and emotional competence.

This book is packed with easy answers for busy schedules & empty tummies, Lunches and snacks kids will love, 60 delicious recipes & over 150 lunch ideas.

The definitive cookbook for babies and toddlers It includes quick and easy food ideas for different ages plus tips to help cope with the fussy eater.

Here is a book full of practical ideas to help you or somebody you know move through grief.

Plunket has been providing new parents with guidance, advice and support for 100 years. This book of indispensable advice from New Zealand's acknowledged experts on childcare is given to every mother of a new baby born in New Zealand. Previously produced in magazine/pamphlet form, it is now produced as a book and sold in the trade and is also updated every year with the latest information and advice. It is a valuable guide for relatives, friends and caregivers, and is ideal for sending to new mothers overseas. Attractively present... read more

This Kiwi version of 'The Dangerous Book for Boys' is a must for every adventurous boy and girl in the kiwi home and includes all sorts of important information you need to know - like how to make an origami water bomb, how to spot native trees, what to do if you are stranded in the bush, how to play marbles, car games, paper planes that fly, how to make a chopstick trebuchet and much much more! Cleverly illustrated by 14 year old Conrad and written and designed by his dad Nick, this is a must have for every boy and girl.

Jane Seabrook uses her unique and charming illustrations of the animal world to shed light on the trials and tribulations of parenthood. Funny and uplifting, these little snippets and insights add a unique perspective to many of the age-old troublesome situations faced by parents (and caregivers) the world over. Parenthood helps us laugh a little at these and reassures us that we humans are not alone in having to grapple with them! The 40 gorgeous illustrations make it a fantastic gift too.

Catering to the nation's diverse ethnic background, Baby Names for New Zealanders is the comprehensive 21st century guide to choosing a name for your baby. Expanded and updated for 2008, it offers over 15,000 names, including derivations, diminutives, nicknames and meanings. Since first being published in 1998, this book has sold over 20,000 copies. Contains:Over 15,000 girls' and boys' namesMeanings, variations, nicknames and diminutivesTips on how to name your babyFamous names from history, literature and New Zealand entertainmen... read more

Struggling to cope with an emotionally charged minefield as your son becomes a man? Do you sometimes wonder if you'll both come out alive? In Sons to Men, Anne Harvey offers a practical guide for mothers as their sons enter adolescence. While many other books concentrate on teenage boys' propensity to misjudge situations and inability to consider implications, Anne focuses on mothers and how they are impacted by their sons' actions and developments. Using real-life examples, she demonstrates how these situations can affect any boy ... read more

Why are boys so noisy? Why do they run around all the time and break things? Why can't they focus on important things like eating vegetables and tidying up? Why do they leave everything to the last minute? Why are they so messy, and why doesn't it bother them? Why are they fascinated with things that can burn, blind and cripple them? Why don't they care about clothes or if their hair looks nice? Why do they lose the gift of speech at adolescence and how do I keep communicating with them? Why do they get so smelly? Why can't they ju... read more

Why do girls giggle so much?Why does everything have to be pink?Why are they so scary once they hit puberty?How can I stop her from marrying an idiot?
All this and more is revealed, with some surprising conclusions about what we think we know about the differences between girls and boys, and taking a few bulls by the horns along the way. With practical examples and case studies to help all fathers raising girls, there's particular comfort for single fathers worried about the lack of women in their daughters' lives. First pu... read more

A hard hitting look at our troubled society, the intergenerational cycle of crime and criminal families and the women who have the power to change things for the better - if we let them.Take a pragmatic look inside the deep-seated issues underlying our appalling youth crime statistics. Examine the background of infamous cases of child abuse and violent crime and the way in which we as a society have traditionally handled - or some would argue mishandled - children born into families caught up in intergenerational crime, poverty an... read more

In the vein of Celia Lashlie's Good Man Projectwhich became the basis for her international bestseller, He’ll Be OK, in-depth research has been undertaken with schoolboys of various ages to canvass their views on current schooling, what worries them and how schools could enhance their education opportunities. The ground-breaking result offers... read more

By popular demand, New Zealand’s most popular parenting writer has drawn on his extensive experience in family therapy and working with the country’s most difficult teenagers to write the book that will save the sanity of parents everywhere. Once you’ve negotiated the terrors of toddlerdom and the perils of primary school you think you’ve got a pretty good handle on this parenting thing - then along comes Mother Nature with her horrible hormones and suddenly you’re so far behind square one you’re starting to wo... read more

Glenn Compain is an Auckland frontline policeman working largely with troubled youth, and he's seen things that would haunt your nightmares. Violent gangs, rampant drug and alcohol abuse, soul-destroying promiscuity, parents unwilling or unable to tackle the mess their kids are making of their young lives. Glenn's experience has taught him that every child is at risk at some stage during their formative years; that there are many influences in their lives that their parents can't hope to control. His message is that it is the paren... read more

The Good Man Project, a major study in 24 boys’ schools around New Zealand, aimed to discover how best to help boys become men. Celia Lashlie’s involve-ment with the research, and her work in prisons and parenting, enable her to offer more of the razor-sharp insights and no-nonsense suggestions we have come to expect from this expert commentator and motivator. First published October 2005.

Do your kids sometimes make you feel like your head is going to explode? Have you ever yelled until you were hoarse? Do you ever have days when all you feel like doing is making a run for the airport? Why is it so hard to be the parent you thought you would be?

Practical commonsense answers and examples from actual cases, logical and realistic strategies, and innovative behaviour modification tools that work in the real world — all from a parent and family therapist who’s seen almost everything there is to see and off... read more

When 'The Journey to Prison' was published in 2002 it became an instant best seller. In it, Celia Lashlie analysed the forces that shape the face of crime in New Zealand, the way we punish offenders, the effectiveness of prison (for both men and women), parental responsibility, the role of drugs, where education comes in and the role of state institutions. This revised edition also contains her insights into some of the more tragic events of late 2002, and of the debate surrounding the building of yet more prisons. With her unique ... read more