How to talk so kids will listen and listen so listen so kids will talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

After years of criticising our parents, with time, we come to talk in exactly the same way they used to talk, repeating to our children the same sentences that we grew up hearing.

Reading this book has been an enlightening experience, you realise for how long you have been living in “automatic” mode. As a parent you want the best for your little ones, and definitely you do your best trying to raise them, trying to build up their confidence and develop their own little personalities. Then you read How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk (How to Help Your Child) (How to Help Your Child) and, suddenly, you become conscious of what you say, for the first time you pay attention and can hear the words coming out of your mouth when dealing with your children and you surprise yourself at what a difference it makes.

The book is an easy read, really engaging and with touches of nice sense of humour with real life examples where you will see yourself reflected. It does exactly what it says on the cover, it is a practical guide to improve parent-child communication and establish mutual co-operation.

It seems written to reach any kind of parent, from the more intellectual to the more “visual” orientated. Each chapter is divided into different parts; descriptive style, with lots of different examples and real life situations, simple and practical exercises where you can apply your new acquired skills and see what you need to change, engaging cartoons illustrating with clear examples the practice in different situations and short summaries, what a better way of remembering, if, after reading the chapter you have a small page with the basic points noted down, so you can snip it and stick it on the kitchen cupboard for later reference?

Nobody says that raising children is an easy task, not even communicating with them, but books like this one, brings us one step closer to our children by helping us to improve our communication and understanding of their own feelings, finding alternative ways to punishments and bringing mutual collaboration. THAT makes such a difference!

Siblings without Rivalry by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

When you thought that one baby have changed your whole life as you ever experienced it, the arrival of the second one definitely adds to the challenge. As soon as both siblings grow up a little bit, your daily life becomes dominated by the mental and physical exhaustion as well as stress keeping up with their playing along with the interminable fights and arguments that seem to fill the day (from the time they get up until they go to bed).

Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too (How to Help Your Child) tries to be a practical guide for parents looking for that alternative way of reaching their children without the conventional screaming, punishing and yelling that most of us went through.

Empathy seems to be the key that will allow you to see the situation from a different angle and help you understand your child. The book is full of unconventional advice such as; stop treating your children equally, stop trying to be fair and just try to meet each child’s needs individually, avoid comparison (whether favourable or unfavourable) and just describe the situation, always acknowledge every child’s feelings, stop intervening in their disputes by letting them work out the solution...all seem to be sound pieces of advice that promise to bring more communication, more co-operation and problem solving skills that will be with your children for the rest of their lives.

Written in the same narrative style as How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk, this book is like an extended chapter that became too long, deep and complex as to be included in the same book. Definitely, the complex subject of dealing with siblings deserves a book on its own.

Following the same structure, the book is very clearly laid out; full of real life examples, practical advice on how to tackle day to day conflicts, great cartoons that illustrate in a more visual way the same situations and short summaries with the key points of each chapter to act as a quick reminder. Although, in practise is not that easy to get it right the first time round, the structure of the book makes it easy for you to go back again and again looking for any reference you might need to tackle any specific problem and find it in just a quick flick through.

Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel

I really had a big curiosity to read Cure Tooth Decay: Remineralize Cavities and Repair Your Teeth Naturally with Good Food [Second Edition] as I found it praised and recommended by so many people in different forums. I couldn’t wait to put my hands (and eyes) on it and know what it was all about. I have to say that it took me time to read it and more time to assimilate its content. Ramiel leaves no stone unturned and the book from beginning to the end is a wealth of information, if you are new to the concept (as most of us are), you will find it at moments overpowering, however it touches every small thing related to tooth decay and healing, and no matter what your dental problem is I’ve found this book to be a really good starting point to research deeper into any particular problem you might be worried about.

Cure Tooth Decay is the published result of five years of research done by the author Ramiel Nagel, combined with research carried out by respected dentists such as Weston Price and Melvin Page.

In the book the author starts explaining the real reason of dental cavities and why our diet is the key to cure and prevent tooth decay. The first part of the book, (nearly half of it) is dedicated exclusively, and quite extensively, to diet. The diets of our ancestors, and studies done in cultures were tooth decay is very rare. The program is easy to understand and follow, even for people with busy schedules and is based in simple changes to your diet such as avoiding junk food, processed sugar and flour products, take some fat soluble vitamins or some Cod Liver Oil every day (to name a few).

It is a simple program intended to heal cavities and prevent tooth decay in a natural way, without the need of any invasive treatment such as drilling, fillings, root canals etc.

The second part of the book deals with a variety of subjects such as the importance of our bite in our overall health, the correction of teeth in an overcrowded mouth which is usually dealt with the imposition of braces in our conventional dentistry. There is a very good number of reference websites to find better dentists and professionals that follow a more holistic and not so invasive approach towards health. There are even recipes to make your own natural toothpaste.

To enumerate every single detail in this book would be impossible, as I think it would be for Ramiel Nagel to fit them all in depth in a single book,( although this book has been a real achievement), however, it provides all the tools for you to go and find your own answer. It gives you the power to make your own choices and listen to your body, to have the option of a more natural alternative... just because NOW you have more information.

Autism, Beyond Despair: Homeopathy has the Answers by Dr. Tinus Smits

In Autism, Beyond Despair: Homeopathy has the Answers, Dr. Tinus Smits provides an answer to so many parents: Autistic children CAN be recovered and he explains the different steps of his treatment which he has developed and successfully used in over 300 autistic children.

He explains the different types of homeopathy and the reasons why classical homeopathy alone cannot cure completely autism. His innovative treatment focuses on a form of homeopathy called Isotherapy, which uses different doses of the same substance that has caused the problem to detox the children. Isotherapy, together with some classical homeopathy and “inspiring homeopathy” as well as some dietary changes are the perfect combination to bring this children back to reality.

Through his research Dr. Tinus Smits locates the roots of the autism in a combination of sources; poor nutrition, vaccines, environmental toxins, antibiotics and other prescription drugs, rather than just a single cause, going as far as toxins present at the time of the pregnancy and even before conception.

I highly recommend this book to any parent of autistic children looking for answers. It’s an interesting read, encouraging, inspiring, a real page turner with a very positive outcome; the answers you were looking for.

Raising a Vaccine Free Child by Wendy Lydall

One of the big dilemmas for health conscious parents is whether to vaccinate or not their children and whether to only use selective vaccines or rather natural and safer alternatives. It is difficult to make a choice, when that choice is for the best of your offspring doubts are normal and even healthy.

If you have taken the decision to raise a vaccine free child this book will provide a wealth of resources; a historic background information of the vaccines and their unsafe components, the implications that these ingredients have in the human body and our health. It also gives a division between the normal childhood diseases that don’t need intervention and the malevolent ones that need it; what you should do to cope with the diseases and how to effectively treat your child should he contract these diseases.

It also deals with Homeopathy as a healthy alternative to vaccination.

The book is clear and easy to read, gives practical advice and is fully referenced. I have found it highly recommended among parents supporting natural health and it is definitely worth to have it as a resource at home.

The Truth About Vaccines- Dr. Richard Halvorsen

As parents we always try to do what is best for our children. Not long ago one had just the option of trusting his doctor regarding health issues. Nowadays there is so much information available around us that we can afford to trust our instincts and still make an informed decision.

This is what Dr. Richard Halvorsen offers in his book The Truth About Vaccines: Making the Right Decision for Your Child, the possibility of making your decision based on facts and valuable information as a result of seven years of research.

In his book we are presented chapter by chapter with each disease, each vaccine, its ingredients, its secondary effects, its benefits, different case studies through the years. It presents a balanced discussion of the pros and cons of vaccination in a clear language, using plain vocabulary in spite of the medical context and still full of references for all those who might want to explore the issues further.

Surprisingly, Dr. R. Halvorsen is not anti-vaccination but pro-choice, he is in favour of presenting the parents with all the relevant information to enable them to make an informed decision, to balance the risks of the disease versus the risks of the vaccines, he also advises a personalised approach to each child.

In general, an excellent and highly recommended book to help you make up your mind and make the right decision for your child.

Put a sling on them

Who said that carrying your baby is not on fashion? As the song goes...If you love them put a sling on "em".