HAVING YOUR SECOND CHILD FIRST

Name: HAVING YOUR SECOND CHILD FIRST
Author: Ina Sinsheimer
ISBN: 978-1-5255-0599-7

by Ina Sinsheimer ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2018

A powerful tool for parents and educators.

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Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

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A preschool director draws on decades of experience in this debut parenting guide.

Sinsheimer, who founded the First Step Nursery School in 1977, has witnessed countless scenarios of parents and teachers interacting with children. This book compiles many in an anecdotal manner, interspersing them with the author’s expert commentary. The children range in age from newborn to adolescent, though most are preschoolers. They can be shy or rambunctious, insecure or rebellious, bullies or bullied. In one example, a teacher helped a creative but short-tempered 4-year-old boy realize the consequences of his angry outbursts, and arranged for him and two other boys to practice playing nicely together. The child eventually learned to “express his feelings in an appropriate way, to listen to the ideas of others, and that it was all right to create his world and share it with others.” Sinsheimer covers an impressive number of child development topics, including the struggle for independence, sibling rivalry, and gender identity. She advises readers on appropriate discipline, developing children’s talents, coping with learning disorders, and even how to handle holidays. The book also addresses such weighty topics as divorce, abuse, and the concept of death. The author’s overall strategy is simple but brilliant: Let the stories make the points. Many other writers dispense parenting advice by talking at readers, but Sinsheimer seems to converse with them while offering realistic scenes that teach clear, vital principles. The stories are entertaining as well as instructive, and many parents will relate to specific characters and situations. Sinsheimer encourages and empowers readers to be “experts in their child’s life,” and she boldly prods them to action. The chapters are neatly organized, but the addition of section headings within them might have made it easier to scan the material.

A powerful tool for parents and educators.

Pub Date: March 23, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5255-0599-7

Page Count: 280

Publisher: FriesenPress

Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2018

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.