When Tom Sturges became a father, he wanted to be the greatest father who ever walked the earth. So Sturges asked a lot of questions. He picked up ideas, advice, and tips from parents, grandparents, even rock stars and sports legends–anyone who had unique insights to share. The result is this practical, inspiring rule book for raising healthy, happy, safe, and cherished children. Philosophical, sensible, and empowering, these 76 ideas include such gems as: • Teach your children that they have to follow the “Parking Lot Rules” whenever they are in (you guessed it) a parking lot. They must stay close. There is to be no trailing behind. No racing ahead. No exceptions. • Let your child feel welcome and loved from the instant he or she walks into a room. “Smile When You See Them,” and leave no doubt that, at that moment, your child is the most important person in your world. • Since parents who yell intimidate, and those who use a calm tone inspire, “When You Get Upset, Whisper”–and make sure your message is heard. • Follow “The Bill Walton Rule”: If you can’t be on time, be early. • When your children accomplish something great in sports, use “The ESPN Rule” by telling the story in intimate detail and filling them with the belief that they can do it again and again. Parking Lot Rules puts a fresh new spin on parenting, in an inspiring handbook full of heart and kindness that will resonate with joy and meaning for parents and children everywhere.

A wise and inspiring guide to parenting through the extraordinary- and at times tumultuous-journey that is the adolescent and teenage years. When Tom Sturges became a father, he decided that he wanted to be one of the greatest father that ever walked the earth. But things became a bit more complicated when his older son turned ten, and the chatty kid he'd known suddenly started locking his bedroom door. Tom realized he needed to find a way to stay on track-he needed crib notes. So, if a parenting idea of technique worked well, he wrote it down. And if he stumbled across something another parent did that was particularly ingenious or exemplary, he wrote that down, too. In Grow the Tree You Got, Tom presents "golden rules" for raising happy, healthy, and compassionate adults. His mantra? It's impossible to show our children too much respect, but it's worth the effort to try.

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Access a level of creativity you never thought possible, using techniques Tom Sturges—former head of creative at Universal Music Publishing Group—learned in his 25-plus years in the music industry. Everyone is innately creative. But many of us—especially those trying to develop careers in music and the arts—wish we knew how to better tap into our creative potential. Is there a way to more easily connect with the part of our minds that knows how to complete a song, finish a poem, or solve a problem? Music industry veteran Tom Sturges argues that there is. Sturges—who, in his 25-plus-year career, has worked with artists including Carole King, Paul Simon, Elton John, Neil Young, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins and Outkast—has developed dependable techniques to help you recognize and harness your own creative power, whenever and wherever you need it Get insight and knowledge of the creative process from Sir Paul McCartney and other. . Every Idea Is a Good Idea invites readers to find the pathway to their own creative endeavors.

A golden rule book to parenting best practices, What Great Parents Do concisely presents key strategies to help parents reshape kids' challenging behaviors, create strong family bonds, and guide children toward becoming happy, kind, responsible adults. What Great Parents Do is an everything-you-need-to-know road map for parenting that you will consult again and again. Psychologist Erica Reischer draws on research in child development and cognitive science to distill the best information about parenting today into bite-size pieces with real examples, useful tips, and tools and techniques that parents can apply right away. This book will show you how to do what great parents do so well, including: - Great parents start with empathy - Great parents accept their kids just as they are - Great parents avoid power struggles - Great parents see the goal of discipline as learning, not punishment - Great parents know they aren't perfect A toolbox of the most effective parenting strategies, What Great Parents Do is accessible, actionable, and easy to follow.

"It might be the most important book about being a parent that you will ever read." —Emily Rapp Black, New York Times bestselling author of The Still Point of the Turning World "Brooks's own personal experience provides the narrative thrust for the book — she writes unflinchingly about her own experience.... Readers who want to know what happened to Brooks will keep reading to learn how the case against her proceeds, but it's Brooks's questions about why mothers are so judgmental and competitive that give the book its heft." —NPR One morning, Kim Brooks made a split-second decision to leave her four-year old son in the car while she ran into a store. What happened would consume the next several years of her life and spur her to investigate the broader role America’s culture of fear plays in parenthood. In Small Animals, Brooks asks, Of all the emotions inherent in parenting, is there any more universal or profound than fear? Why have our notions of what it means to be a good parent changed so radically? In what ways do these changes impact the lives of parents, children, and the structure of society at large? And what, in the end, does the rise of fearful parenting tell us about ourselves? Fueled by urgency and the emotional intensity of Brooks’s own story, Small Animals is a riveting examination of the ways our culture of competitive, anxious, and judgmental parenting has profoundly altered the experiences of parents and children. In her signature style—by turns funny, penetrating, and always illuminating—which has dazzled millions of fans and been called "striking" by New York Times Book Review and "beautiful" by the National Book Critics Circle, Brooks offers a provocative, compelling portrait of parenthood in America and calls us to examine what we most value in our relationships with our children and one another.

French Kids Eat Everything is a wonderfully wry account of how Karen Le Billon was able to alter her children’s deep-rooted, decidedly unhealthy North American eating habits while they were all living in France. At once a memoir, a cookbook, a how-to handbook, and a delightful exploration of how the French manage to feed children without endless battles and struggles with pickiness, French Kids Eat Everything features recipes, practical tips, and ten easy-to-follow rules for raising happy and healthy young eaters—a sort of French Women Don’t Get Fat meets Food Rules.