This book provides a practical guide to raising children from pre-conception to teenage years. It includes areas of interest for parents-to-be, including how to prepare for conception in order to give a child the best start in life and ways to avoid stress during pregnancy and its negative effects on the unborn child. Parents, grandparents and teachers can learn how to support a child's development in fundamental areas like good self-esteem, resilience and managing emotions and behaviour. Practical activities and guidance is provided on how children can develop skills in setting and achieving goals, communicating, building and nurturing relationships with family and friends, managing stress, understanding health and nutrition as well as environmental awareness and social consciousness. These key life skills and personal qualities are the platform from which a child can create a happy, productive and fulfilling life. Parents are also introduced to a framework for managing their family life and making it all work.

Why do children need play? Play has the very real power to transform children’s lives. It has a unique and profound impact on the neurological, emotional and physical development and wellbeing of children - from therapeutic play and overcoming anxiety, to positive behaviour, mental health and even life expectancy. This book brings together two hot topics - play and neuroscience – breaking them down in an accessible way and offering a new perspective and voice on the topic of play. Weaving theory and practical examples together, and based on over 30 years’ experience of working with children, Ben presents a compelling argument that play is not merely an optional extra to childhood but a vital developmental process and one of the most important things a child ever does.

How do we build resilient children who can handle life's challenges? As parents today, we often feel that our role is to protect our children from the world: to cushion them when they fall, to lift them over obstacles, and to remove sharp rocks from their path. But controling a child’s entire environment and keeping all pain at bay isn’t feasible—we can’t prepare the world for our children, so instead we should focus on preparing our children for the world. “The solution is not removing impediments from our children’s lives,” writes Krissy Pozatek, “it is compassionately encouraging them to be brave.” We need to show our kids how to navigate their own terrain. If our kids face small hurdles, small pains, at a young age and learn to overcome these obstacles, they will be much better equipped to face larger trouble later in life. Early lessons in problem solving teach self-confidence and self-reliance—and show us that our kids are tougher than we think. Krissy draws her lessons from her experience guiding children in wilderness therapy and from her Buddhist practice—showing us that all life is as unpredictable as mountain weather, that impermanence is the only constant, and that the most loving act a parent can do is fearlessly ready their child to face the wilderness. For parents of children of all ages.

When pineapple cheesecakes start disappearing from the world's only Pineapple Cheesecake Factory across town, Crosley, a zany red crocodile, enlists the help of young John Degraffenreidt to straighten things out. In this adventure-fantasy, the unlikely pair sneaks out of John's house by becoming invisible, thanks to the I-ain't-here doodad Crosley uses from the bunch of whatchamacallits hanging on his belt. On the way to the subway they get better acquainted, and John finds out the wacky reason Crosley is red, and also what happens if he gets any water on him. They get on the Night Folks Limited train and ride all the way to the Cheesecake Factory where they meet the giant manager, Big Foot Mae. There is danger ahead, but the Night Buddies must stay with their "e;Program"e; (the Night Buddies word for Adventure) if the world's supply of pineapple cheesecakes counts for anything. And it surely does, especially to Crosley who is totally goofy about the things and never seems to get his fill.

Parents and children will be inspired to develop a true love for each other with the wisdom of yoga shared in this text. In Parents and Children: Relationships Born from Love, you'll learn meditation techniques to calm emotions, yoga postures that promote a healthier body, and ways people of all ages can use yoga to alleviate the harmful effects of a wide spectrum of physical and emotional conditions. "This is a clear, comprehensive, easy to understand and follow guidebook for creating happy, harmonious, loving family relationships. The book is written with such kindness and compassion, exactly the qualities the author hopes to awaken in her readers. This book could do immense good to help individuals and families find their way to the fulfillment of heart we all seek." - Nayaswami Asha, spiritual director of Ananda Palo Alto, CA; teacher; counselor; author. http: //www.nayaswamiasha.org

In Creating a Reggio-Inspired STEM Environment for Young Children, the newest addition in the Redleaf Press Quick Guide series, award-winning educator Vicki Carper Bartolini offers practical suggestions and resources for rethinking your early learning environment with a focus on STEM, using the Reggio Emilia approach lens honoring a student-centered, self-guided curriculum based on principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and play. Creating a Reggio-Inspired STEM Environment for Young Children will inspire teachers and give them steps that they can take tomorrow after reading the book. Includes snapshot case studies of three programs that have brought their STEM environments to life.

Hokusai’s classic woodcut of a majestic wave becomes the starting point for a storybook children will want to read again and again. On a stormy winter’s day, a baby boy, Naoki, is swept into a fisherman’s boat by a great wave. Years pass, but still Naoki does not grow. Must he return to the ocean in order to become a young man? The answer arrives in the form of a mythic fish. Japanese artist Hokusai is one of the world’s most celebrated printmakers. His famous woodcut, "The Great Wave," epitomizes the artist’s characteristic techniques and themes. In this children’s book, the artist’s masterpiece is the genesis for a simple but compelling story, beautifully illustrated in pictures that recall Hokusai’s brilliant use of detail, perspective and color. A stunning reproduction of the woodcut itself is featured in the book, supplemented by information about the artist and his work. At once modern and classic, The Great Wave introduces young readers to a beloved artist and his timeless portrayals of nature and transformation.

Art Workshop for Children is not just another book of straightforward art projects. The book's unique child-led approach provides a framework for cultivating creative thinking and encourages the wonder that comes when children are allowed to freely explore the creative process and their materials. As children work through these open-ended workshops, adults are guided on how to be facilitators who provide questions, encourage deep thinking, and help spark an excitement for discovery. Children explore basic materials and workshops that use minimal supplies, and then gradually add new materials to fill the art cabinets as well as new skills and more complex workshops. Most workshops are suitable to preschool-aged children, and each contains ideas for explorations and new twists to engage older or more experienced artists. Interspersed throughout are sidebar essays that introduce perspectives on mess-making, imperfection, the role of adult, collaborative art, and thoughts on the Reggio Emilia method, a self-guided teaching philosophy. These pieces underscore the value of art-making with children, and support the parent/teacher/care-giver on how to successfully lead, question, and navigate their children through the workshops to result in the fullest experiences.

Hope Roberts for President -- or not? In the third book in Alyssa Milano's funny and relatable middle-grade series, Hope is running for sixth grade class president, with her friend and campaign manager, Grace, by her side. But in her effort to win over her classmates, Hope makes some promises she can't keep. Can Hope make things right with the students of JFK Middle -- and maybe still win the election, too? Hope's relatability, kindness, empathy, and can-do attitude will inspire a generation of do-gooders. This series is a response to the very palpable feeling that not only can young people save the world -- they will!This story will tie in perfectly to the 2020 presidential election and include Hope's tips about voting and elections in the back of the book!

Based on the beloved series of water lily paintings by Claude Monet, this children's book draws readers into the atmosphere and colors of Monet's garden at Giverny, where a lovely but vain frog tries to insert herself into the artist's work. When Antoinette, a comely young frog, learns that a famous artist is searching for beautiful flowers to paint, she is determined to get in the picture. But once the portrait is painted, it disappears--perhaps forever. This delightfully humorous mystery is accompanied by colorful illustrations that recall Monet's paintings of the pond near his home in Giverny. The final pages of the book feature reproductions of eight of Monet's water lily paintings. As children follow Antoinette's antics on a summer evening in France, they will become entranced by the pond, the painter, the light, and the beauty of Monet's world.