P Books

As one of those asked to write a blurb for the cover of the book, and who made one or two modest suggestions, I come to this with some prejudice. However, having been an asset based lender for some thirty five years, I have never seen a more complete treatment of the practical aspects of business finance.

Many books are written on such a theoretical level, that they are worth little to the entrepreneur or the CFO of a mid-sized company. Ken Marks and his team have made the complicated seem almost simple. They lay out the details for you in laymen's language and provide resources for capitalizing your business.

If you are serious about your business's growth and profitability, you need this book. It will help move you to the next level.

Barry Yelton

I bought this book about a year and a half ago, and have been reminded of the wisdom of that purchase every time I pick it up again...a great ROI on that small investment!

If you're a startup or an entrepreneur...you have very little time and/or few sources of quality information.

This book gives you the big picture, it also gives you many details that are hard to get...it's the best investment you can make with your time.

Whether you are a start-up, growing a business or just interested in business reading, Kenneth H.Marks provides a clear insight into topics and issues required by any business person. Thought I understood finance until I read this book and located gaping holes in my understanding. Would recommend this book for any business course- it fills in the knowledge gaps that business schools leave.

If you are like me, you read a lot of books to help you become a better Entrepreneur, looking for those tasty morsels that give you ideas or methods to succeed in growing your business.

This books is one of the few of its kind that I could not put down. Each section was interesting and most were relevant. I am sick of reading about pure high tech and software only plays. This book is not only very educational, it is a reference manual that never leaves my desk. The Database of funding sources is invaluable.

I stopped reading the comics regulerly when Bloom County stopped. I didn't find the comics funny anymore. This work, which shows some of his earliest strips are funny, and if you understand the poltical references because you were alive then, which I was, it makes this all the more funny.

As one progresses through this book, as well as the other outstanding volumes in the Bloom County "Anthology," you remember the quirky concepts, ideals, and opinions of your childhood. You didn't understand much of the strip growing up, as I did, but in retrospect it offers a frank, comical, unyielding, and nostalgic trip through our lives. True Bloom county fans will share my utter sorrow when the last few pages bring an end to an amazing book. I hope Breathed has some more projects in the future.

This book was very sad.For those who have read Bloom County before it is a must read.And the ones who haven't,still,it is a must read.The ending to this magnificent comic strip was done in excelent taste.You can feel the sorrow as it is over,never to be done again.The charcters are great,which makes it so sad.It truely is a gift on what he did in this last book.I cried,I laughed,I jumped on dandylions.

It is a testament to the talents of Berke Breathed that well over ten years after he suspended "Bloom County," it is still sorely missed by its legions of fans, myself included. Once described as "Doonesbury with animals," "Bloom County" took on a life of its own, and what a life it was. "Happy Trails" consists of strips from the County's last year, and all the familiar characters are here--Opus, Bill, Steve Dallas, Cutter John, Milo, and Hodgepodge--as well as a couple of new characters who would star in Breathed's follow-up strip "Outland." Breathed's observations are dead on, and the strips will often have you thinking--once you get enough oxygen back to your brain after laughing so hard. With the possible exception of "Dilbert," no comic today has the fan loyalty that "Bloom County" did--and now that Charles Schultz is no longer with us, I doubt any will again.

Happy Trails begins with Opus deciding to get an illegal back-alley liposuction of his nose, and ends with him saying "Good-bye" to all of the familiar faces and places of Bloom County on the way to the sequel "Outland". On the pages that intervene Berkeley Breathed gets in some hilarious and dead-on pokes at religious fanatics, Donald Trump, Swimsuit Editions, and phone solicitors.

Not quite as coherent a collection as the previous books as Breathed tries to get in his "last shots" before retiring Bloom County forever, this book is still hilarious and interesting, and a must-have for those looking to complete their BC collection.

Do you prefer tight, concise articles compared to eloquent tomes, simply because you don't have the time to read as much as you might like? If that's the case, then here is a great book on change management just for you. This collection is one in a series from the Harvard Business Review, and is just about the most wide-ranging printed resource that this writer has found available for taking on corporate change.

There are articles from such leading authorities on change management as John Kotter (Leading Change), Paul Strebel, and more. Each article opens with an executive summary, helping you decide if you want to tackle that article then and there, or move on to another that fits your interests of the moment.

Sooner or later, change is about people altering the status quo, and those in charge often turn a blind eye to the fact that leadership is singularly the most important issue when an organization has to implement major changes. This is followed closely by teamwork, of which there won't be any without leadership.

Inside the covers you'll find the collected knowledge, opinions and counsel of those executives and consultants who have dealt with change at all levels. If your schedule doesn't permit you to leisurely meander through hundreds of pages to find a few workable ideas upon which to build some change solutions, then this collection should be highly recommended for you.

This is a very good series of articles. In addition, I strongly recommend "Strategic Organizational Change" by Beitler. It is time and money well spent.

This is one in a series of several dozen volumes that comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Each offers direct, convenient, and inexpensive access to the best thinking on the given subject in articles originally published by the Harvard Business School Review. I strongly recommend all of the volumes in the series. The individual titles are listed at this Web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu. The authors of various articles are among the world's most highly regarded experts on the given subject. Each volume has been carefully edited. Supplementary commentaries are also provided in most of the volumes, as is an "About the Contributors" section that usually includes suggestions of other sources that some readers may wish to explore.

In this volume, the reader is provided with eight articles whose authors provide a variety of perspectives on how to strengthen an organization by making necessary changes while minimizing fear, frustration, and resistance. All of the articles first appeared in the HBR from January-February, 1992, to May-June, 1997; some but remarkably little of the material is dated. Here are some of the important business issues to which the contributors direct their (and our) attention:

Which seem to be the most common mistakes made by executives? ("Leading Change" John P. Kotter)
Comment: Kotter identifies eight and suggests how to avoid or repair them.

How to avoid a vague and fuzzy vision concept? ("Building Your Company's Vision," James C. Collins and Jerry I Porras)
Comment: Collins and Porras offer a framework that has two principal parts: core ideology and envisioned future. It was in this article that they introduced their concept of the "Big Hairy Audacious Goal" (BHAG).

How to focus only on what is most important? ("Managing Change: The Art of Balancing," Jeanie Daniel Duck)
Comment: When managing change, "the challenge is to innovate mental work, not to replicate physical work. The goal is to teach [everyone involved] how to think strategically, recognize patterns, and anticipate problems and opportunities before they occur."

Why is context so important to beneficial reinvention? ("The Reinvention Roller Coaster: Risking the Present for a Powerful Future," Tracy Goss, Richard Pascale, and Anthony Athos)
Comment: The authors assert that reinvention is not changing what is, but creating what isn't. They explain the importance of assembling a critical mass of key stakeholders, completing an organizational audit, creating urgency while discussing the "undiscussable," harnessing contention, and effectively engineering organizational breakdowns [i.e. what Joseph Schumpeter characterizes as "creative destruction].

What can be learned from the experiences of troubled companies that have fallen victim to "a syndrome with four discernible stages"? ("Changing the Mind of the Corporation," Roger Martin)
Comment: Martin explains what the syndrome is, and, how to avoid or escape from it.

How to accommodate the fact that employees and those who supervise them see change differently? ("Why Do Employees Resist Change?," Paul Strebel)
Comment: Strebel explains what "personal compacts" are, and, how they can they help to reduce resistance to change initiatives.

What to do when an organization seems to be on "death's door"? ("Reshaping an Industry: Lockheed Martin's Survival Story," Norman R. Augustine)
Comment: Augustine offers various "sometimes painful" lessons he learned about best practices when attempting to restructure an endangered organization. He served as chairman and CEO of Martin Marietta for eight years until it became part of Lockheed Martin where he also served as chairman and CEO.

What do results-driven improvement programs involve? ("Successful Change Programs Begin with Results," Robert H. Schaefer and Harvey A. Thomson)
Comment: Early in this article, Schaefer and Thomson observe that most improvement efforts "have as much impact on company performance as a rain dance has on the weather." Then on page 195, they provide an especially informative graphic by which to compare and contrast activity-centered programs with results-driven programs. They then

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out other volumes in the Harvard Business Review Paperback Series, especially HBR on Leading Through Change and HBR on Becoming a High Performance Manager. Also, James O'Toole's Leading Change, Enterprise Architecture As Strategy co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson, Ram Charan's Know-How, Richard Ogle's Smart World, and Seeing What's Next co-authored by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, and Erik A. Roth.

It's a decent book that outline the necessary steps and precautions that need to re-engineer your company. However, I made a mistake by buying the eBook copy of this book because I needed it right the way. However, for this eBook, I cannot print any of the pages and, worse yet, I can't view the book on another PC. So my suggestion is that DON'T BUY eBOOK, it's the worst investment you can make.

I am a existential psychotherapist and have been seeking the way for myself and others to lead a being vs. having lifestyle.Thank you Mr. Chard for showing me the way.This book is so well written and has such a powerful message it should be the prerequisite reader for anyone interested in the newly formed ecotherapy movement.It is also written so that both the professional and lay person can benefit.His preface alone was great!

I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor, spiritual seeker and avid outdoors person and I have been looking for a way to bring these aspects together. Phillip Sutton Chard's book "The Healing Earth" has shown me the way. Chard not only applies psychological insight to the practice of psychotherapy but actually uses nature as the "therapist." His case studies illustrate how nature has the power to heal and change our lives, validates our own experiences and empowers us to use the natural world in the practice of psychotherapy. Chard's book redefines "sanity" as if the whole world mattered.

This book deserves much more attention. I intend to recommend it to my career coaching clients. The author emphasizes that we don't always figure out what we need by "mouth aerobics." Getting out and experiencing nature will help us find where we are.

As psychotherapist Philip Chard beautifully and compellingly writes in his deeply touching book, The Healing Earth, "all of us are looking for home." After reading this book, I am filled with a sense of awe at the many lessons Mother Earth can teach us about our lives and ourselves. I am sure your soul--your true home--will too be touched in a profound way as you read his words, experience his poignant and effective exercises, and renew your connection with the earth. I loved this unique and exceptional book! Enjoy these pearls.

Reading this book brings forward some of my most wondrous moments with Mother Earth. One cannot be touched by the Grand Canyon or a 360 degree turquoise and magenta sunset without being changed forever. I have always known that my "spiritual home" exists outside in the fresh air amongst the perfection of flower faces. Philip Chard shares these feelings and more, and does it so eloquently.

A bus pass
A postcard
A German grammar book
A potted plant
A packet of seeds
A page from a songbook
A record
An empty plastic box
A package of condoms
A wadded-up sheet
A frayed American flag
A black notebook
A wrapped package with a curly ribbon
A movie ticket
A razor blade and a bottle of blue pills

What could a sixteen-year-old Swedish boy have to do with all those objects? You'd be surprised.
This book is told by a teenage boy. Is he a boy? He has loved before, but he has yet to get his license or experience the "real world". He goes nameless throughout the entire story, which adds to the constant question of manhood or childhood. And what does a movie ticket and a wrapped package with a curly ribbon have to do with it?
The book starts with him spending a night alone, reviewing the past year in his mind as a movie starring himself and a girl. The girl. Like most teenage boys, he has fallen in love. She, however, was not in love.
The novel focuses on this boy and the objects that still connect him to his past lover. He feels a burning desire to rid himself of those memories. What to do with the bus pass? The record? The sheet?
This book will keep you up at night. You'll be wide awake at 3 a.m., gnawing at your fingernails. Why did he have to destroy the that? Why did he need to get rid of it? Every obstacle this boy goes through will have an impact on your entire day. Why? Why won't he listen? Why won't he move?! WAKE UP!

A bus pass
A postcard
A German grammar book
A potted plant
A packet of seeds
A page from a songbook
A record
An empty plastic box
A package of condoms
A wadded-up sheet
A frayed American flag
A black notebook
A wrapped package with a curly ribbon
A movie ticket
A razor blade and a bottle of blue pills

What could a sixteen-year-old Swedish boy have to do with all those objects? You'd be surprised.
This book is told by a teenage boy. Is he a boy? He has loved before, but he has yet to get his license or experience the "real world". He goes nameless throughout the entire story, which adds to the constant question of manhood or childhood. And what does a movie ticket and a wrapped package with a curly ribbon have to do with it?
The book starts with him spending a night alone, reviewing the past year in his mind as a movie starring himself and a girl. The girl. Like most teenage boys, he has fallen in love. She, however, was not in love.
The novel focuses on this boy and the objects that still connect him to his past lover. He feels a burning desire to rid himself of those memories. What to do with the bus pass? The record? The sheet?
This book will keep you up at night. You'll be wide awake at 3 a.m., gnawing at your fingernails. Why did he have to destroy the that? Why did he need to get rid of it? Every obstacle this boy goes through will have an impact on your entire day. Why? Why won't he listen? Why won't he move?! WAKE UP!

This is one book that I could read over and over. I read Heart's Delight in one day, and loved it so much. This is actually a book that was translated from sweedish, into English.

The main character in this book is about 17, and is heartbroken by his true love, for which he calls "Heart's Delight". A mysterious redhead, who he sees every week on the city bus to school. Eventually, they get to know eachother, and fall in love. Later, the book talks about teenage sex, and how beautiful it was for him the first time, with heart's delight.

It's later in the book that you find out what happens, which drives the boy to commit suicide. The only one who can save his life is Heart's Delight, also known as Ann-Katrin.

This book is writen beautifuly, you should definently read it.

Heart's delight is the name of a plant. It's also called Lemon Balm, and it gives off a faint hint of-- you guessed it-- lemon. It is also the nickname the young man in this book gives to the girl who he thinks is the love of his life. Ever since the young man first saw her he has been in love, but now he only wants to get her out of his mind. To do this, however, he must first destroy every bit of her she has left in his life.
"Heart's Delight" is a story about love and falling out of love. I recommend this book to anyone who needs to feel really sad. This is not the sort of book that will leave you satisfied with the world.

By far, the best book ive ever read. Not your usual sappy teen love story where girl meets guy and they end up happily ever after, or the typical drama of a teen couple having sex and getting pregnant. this novel is unique and lovely, beautiful ,yet sad love story, it will make you cry. i especially reccomend it to all you girls who think that boys have no emotions. wonderful story, anyone who has a true love, or has had a true love and lost it, should read thsi book. Nilson writes beautifully without being overabundant with words, he used the right amount and the right words, great writing style, has even inspired me to begin writing.

An excellent book on WW I. Oddly, not carried in our fabulous library system.
Title based on a quote from Hamlet and is greatly misleading.

In his novel, "Her Privates We," Frederic Manning does something almost unique in Great War literature. He gives voice to the English common soldier. This was the man the British public personified as Tommy Atkins and whom Americans in a later conflict would call GI Joe. This was the man who did the work of war with bayonet, rifle and hand grenade.

Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, Wilfred Owen and Vera Brittain--among others--have given us a look inside the English middle-class perspective of the Great War. Through their poetry and prose, we can gain some understanding of what they and their educated counterparts suffered and endured.

The clerk, the taxi driver and farm laborer who went to war had no such heavy-weight advocates. Until Manning's novel first appeared in a limited edition during 1929, English private soldiers spoke primarily through letters home, not through literature. We know them best through the mute, exhausted faces that stare out at us across time from black-and-white Great-War-era photographs.

Manning, an educated Australian, worked as a minor literary figure in pre-war England. He enlisted in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry during 1915 and served as a private soldier in France through much of the 1916 Somme Campaign. Not coincidently, most of the novel's action is set within British lines during the time of that huge offensive.

Because Manning was a man who combined a writer's skills with a soldier's experience, his work gives us a rare and vivid glimpse of what trench life and fighting felt like from the viewpoint of the English private and non-commissioned officer. The book reflects the emotional and physical costs of battle. It also gives us some knowledge of the ways men related to each other and to their superiors. Any American who soldiered during the 20th Century will almost certainly find echoes of his own service experience within Manning's story.

In its 1929 printing "Her Privates We" was called "The Middle Parts of Fortune." The first mass publication the next year was ruthlessly edited to reflect 1930s sensibilities. The current paper-bound version of "Her Privates We," offered through Amazon, is completely uncut.

The Book's title derives from some obscene banter in Shakespeare's Hamlet, during which two characters describe themselves as the private parts of Fortune. Private parts, private soldiers, you get the picture. After listening to them, Hamlet concludes that Fortune is a strumpet. This would seem an equally valid conclusion for those of any rank or station caught within the titanic social and military struggle that played out during the 1914-1918 war.

Of course, I say this work is elegant, true, vivid and memorable as a work, not the events it depicts. In parts of the world that used to make up the Commonwealth and serviced by Penguin books, the title may be THE MIDDLE PARTS OF FORTUNE. Having had 25 years in the military I can only say I read this book from cover to cover, and relished every word in it. Artistically, as an artifact, it has a satisfying structure and conventional narrative. Like the characters in it, especially Private Bourne, it manages a superb tone, neither hiding the horror, the detail, but never sentimentalizing the common bravery of the ordinary man whilst despising the shirker. I could go on but I just draw to your attention on P58 the brilliant detail of having to carry an awkward box three miles by hand: - ....he was glad to dump the box he and Lance-Corporal Johnson had carried the three miles from Philosophe on the floor of the Quartermaster's office. It had those handles which hang down when not in use, but turn over and force one's knuckles against the ends of the box when it is lifted. By reversing the grip, one may save one's knuckles, but only at the expense of twisting one's elbow, and the muscles of the forearm. Having tried both ways, they passed their handkerchiefs through the handles, and knotted the corners, so that it was slung between them, but the handkerchief being of different sizes, the weight was not equally distributed. The quartermaster's store was a large shed of galvanized iron, which may have been a garage originally. He was not there, but the carpenter, who was making wooden crosses, of which a pile stood in one corner, thought he might be back at the transport lines; on the other hand he might be back at any moment, so they waited for as long as it took to smoke a cigarette, watching the carpenter, who, having finished putting a cross together, was painting it with a cheap-looking white paint. -That's the motto of the regiment,- said the carpenter, taking up one on which their badge and motto had been painted carefully. - It's in Latin, but it means WHERE GLORY LEADS.
Bourne looked at it with a sardonic grin. - That is just one paragraph of 247 pages of fine prose, and itself could be a study as a sample of quite brilliant writing.
A classic of the 20th century.

I feels like i am reading both "The Stranger" and "All Quiet on the Western Front." I was hoping to get something from it but i was disappointed from what i considered the best combination of both novels.

This semi-fictional story is set in a brief 6 month (or so)period in 1916 in which the British Army began to assume the major contribution to the Allied effort. By this time of WW1 the French had been somewhat degraded and pretty exhausted by the combined efforts of Verdun and the Somme. The story is set on the Somme front after the opening phases of the battle and includes the description of a long recovery period behind the lines to refit-a luxury denied many German units. The story reflects to some degree the British class system , and many of the soldiers themselves seem somewhat bewildered about the nature of war confronting them. The Germans themselves are shown as remote and treated somewhat indifferently. Despite the possibility of death each soldier seems distracted with obtaining alcohol, women and decent food in that order.

The 1 difficult aspect of the book is the phonetic nature of the spoken words. The characters are, after all, British, and Americans may have a tough time understanding what's being said. When compared with All Quiet on the Western Front, which focuses more on the futility and abstract nature of the war, Her Privates, We is more insular and personal.

Although I am not an Architect but I enjoyed reading this book. It tells you exactly what you want to know about running a design firm. I also liked the simple, clear language that was used. If you are planning to start up your own business then I really recommend you to read this book.

How Firms Succeed should be on every Design Firm's must read list. It is the closest thing to a how-to manual in running a design firm. Anyone who follows the principles of the text will reap the rewards as their business grows.

How Firms Succeed transforms the poetry of architecture into the prose of practical management advice. This book offers solutions to the questions and problems that distract firms from their quest to provide excellent design. It should rapidly become an indispensable part of every architect's working library.

I was very pleased to find this book. It is a clear, concise resource for people who need to better understand design firms. It provides an insight into the nature of the design business - and it unique culture - that is invaluable to both practitioners and managers who want to create a successful and healthy organization.

Too many design professionals think that design excellence and financial acumen are mutually exclusive. Thanks to the authors of How Firms Succeed for putting this myth to rest. This book addresses the issues that, if practiced, will allow for both. One can only imagine the impact of a firm that provides best-of-class design and its impact on our communities.

Developing speech applications is not easy to master. Even with VoiceXML becoming more widely adopted, there are a lot of intricacies that that a developer must understand. This book will provide you with a solid foundation to become an effective speech application developer.

The book did very well in presenting the limitations of the current speech recognition technology (dialog design, large vocabularies, promtp design, etc.) and made suggestions on how to overcome such problems in specific situations.

When this book came out a couple of years ago it was the first and only book on designing speech recognition systems. It was very valuable then, but now more books are available that cover the same information and more, for a lot less money.

This book is simply the best for your bookcase if you are a voice dialogue designer. I would strongly recommend it to novice and expert alike, especially for those learning VoiceXML for the first time, or working with it day to day.

Grounded in hours of human-computer experiments, and a multi-disciplinary approach to user interface design - this book is a rare combination of a careful ear for human language and dialogue, extensive engineering experience, and pragmatic knowledge of the strengths and limitations of current voice recognition technology.

The second edition has brought it bang up-to-date. It cuts through the hype that has always surrounded each successive generation of voice technology - focussing always on the building of robust useable interfaces which work with the user rather than against them.

This book is so well organized and articulated it's bound to be of value to anyone doing ASR application development. My own experience in voice response runs from end-user representative to application designer and I found every chapter enlightening. In this second edition of Bruce and David's ASR style guide, I believe the end users will find the new sections on voice portals and managing your voice talent of particular interest. And all users should take particular note of the expanded discussions of usability testing and performance reporting.

I found the first version of How to Build a Speech Recognition Application so useful that I actually took the time to compared the new edition, page for page, with the original. That was a relatively easy task, because the authors retained the original section numbering wherever possible. My comparison showed that the original guidelines have been substantially updated, based on continuing research and the hands-on experiences of both the authors and other acknowledged experts. In addition, I believe the new sections and expanded discussions of critical design considerations are going to prove valuable to both novice and seasoned developers.

In short, developing effective telephony dialogues is a complex, rapidly evolving and downright expensive task. Given that reality, every development team ought to have at least one copy of this landmark style guide.

Author, Bruce Balentine's goal with How to Build a Speech Recognition Application is to produce the Strunk and White of speech recognition. An electronic musician and composer, Balentine was a pioneer in the speech recognition field. The text's examination of the problems of navigation from human perception to machine recognition give comprehension to even the layman. The book is well organized and structured with the +,/,- system which allows a novice to follow. According to linguist, Dr. John White, the first chapter could stand alone as a treatise on the dynamics of the human speech interface with the machine.

A must if you want to love a woman , even though it is yourself...

the tape makes the listener look deeper at the woman,all aspects of her and in my opinion more importantly the interior life that should sustain one when things outside appear to be a bit shaky.it invites the listener to know the woman,celebrate her and love all aspects of her.for a listener that loves man and women as we all have these aspects inside of us as human beings.

I enjoy to listen to this CD, it holds my attention and it's not boring, as other CDs on that topic. It gives new information and it's always positive, gives hope and brightness.

She has the most beautiful rich voice which starts a slow heart beat deep within the soul. She tells the most surprising, extraordinary stories that feed the Old Hungry Ones who have been begging for alms at the side of the road, deep within us. The story of Sketeton Woman is particularly poetic and vivid and it will sing to you long after you've first heard it. Her poetic renditions/reinterpretations of Sappho are luscious and will make your skin shiver with delight. This is a down-to-earth, deeply wise and delicious offering which I would recommend, in Estes words, "for men who love women, women who love women or anyone who has tasted the Feminine God and found her . . .".This is for anyone seeking soulful relationship with the world and others in it. It is something you never tire of listening to.

With her rich and poetic voice, Dr. Estes presents, in a most unique fashion, the insight into relationship. Her use of poetry and indigenous folk tales somehow manage to define the kind of relationship I want and can have with my husband of 23 years. Key was her discussion of the life/death/life cycle as natural and something to be embraced, not feared. I have the tape on audio and listen to it almost daily, like a prayer.

(Forgive my English grammar, it is my second language)... I am currently reading my parents' spanish version of this book "El Arte de Ser Padres" from Dr. Dodson (I am currently a 3 yrs. kid father) and as I go on from chapter to chapter I just can't believe how good this book is.
The fun part of all this is that I used to go through this book (that has been in my parent's book shelves for 30 years now!) when I was a kid because of the fun cartoons it included, but I never thought it was such a well written and childern's-psychology-knowledge based book until a couple months ago when my mother took it out of the book shelve when I asked: "What should I do when my son hits someone else?"... I started reading one chapter and from then on I could not stop.
It is also amazing how all this theory still makes perfect sense 30 or 35 years later. My only regret is that I did not start reading it three years ago, when my son was still unborn. If you have kids, buy and read and save this book, for it deserves six stars instead of five. Regards!

My mom bought this book a year before I was born in 1975 and always told me it was the best book on parenting she ever read and to "forget Dr. Spock" (or something to that effect). I don't know how much different a parent she would have been without this book but my mom was in a league of her own so for whatever part this book played I thank Dr. Dodson.

I haven't read the book but as a product of a parent who used it as her only "parenting book" I echo the sentiments of an earlier reviewer and say 5 stars isn't enough.

There is no other book I recommend higher than this one for parenting to family and friends. I majored in child education and sociology and therefore, read many, many books on child development. I bought this book in 1975 when my first child was born, along with many others. I found Dr. Dodson's book to be the most thorough and the most interesting of them all. I learned more from that one book than all the others put together. I found what Dr. Dodson said made so much sense. He helped me to understand each year and/or developmental stage through the months of the first year, and then each year/stage up to the age of 5 years. Toilet training, discipline, temper tantrums, teaching regard/respect for others, the best time to take that bottle/pacifier away, a parent's emotions and how to understand your feelings... are a very few subjects in a book holding a wealth of great information.

I raised 3 boys and 2 stepchildren and had to deal with a divorce. I truly believe that the knowledge and practices I gained and used from Dr. Dodson offered my children a better parent and a better life. I raised them all to be independent, imaginative, moral, responsible, courteous and happy children. Sometimes our life was hard, we didn't have very many material things, some of them went through rough teen years, and those that went to college, worked their way through. They are now all in their 20's and each of them, though very different in personality, reflect these important values. Thank you, Dr. Dodson, you made my life and my chilrens' so much easier.

Dr. Dodson wrote another book entitled "How to Father" which covers the years after 5 into the teens. As I remember, "How to Father" was a continuation of How to Parent. It was not just for fathers.

Buy this book. Utilize it. I used all of Dr. Dodson's methods on raising an infant. Toilet training was easier, because I knew what signs and what age to start trying and knew when to stop if it wasn't the right time. Taking the bottle/pacifier away was a snap because of the timing. Knowing what to do when my child threw a fit kept it from becoming a horrible time... it even became enjoyable, because I could see my child learning and dealing with disappointments in a heathly way. I could go on and on about the successes I've had because of this book. It should be in every parent's library and in every school!

You will find that you will pull this book out with eagerness as your child grows to review and prepare for what is coming next.

Dr. Dodson, a child psychologist by training, was our mentor in raising our three children starting with our oldest in 1970. When I tried to find the book recently, I was surprised to learn it was out of print. Fortunately, I found a copy at Amazon.com--I wanted three to give to each of my children as they begin to raise their children.

At the time of our first introduction to Dr. Dodson, Dr. Spock was the guru of many, but as a pediatrician Spock was not versed in the psychological/emotional side of child-rearing as was Dodson.

What was valuable to me was understanding the changes and expectations that come with each age as children mature from toddlerhood to teenagers to young adults. Dodson's "How to Parent" should be required reading for everyone who has children and who cares about them. As he stated, children don't come with an instruction manual nor do parents instinctively know how to be good parents. We can avoid a lot of parenting mistakes by learning from the best. The advice in this book is priceless.

I recently came across another of Dr. Dodson's books, "How to Grandparent," an equally exciting book.

I bought this book in the early 70's when my youngest daughter was born and I became a single parent. I found Dodson's methods made complete sense and felt natural to me, encouraging the practical use of his techniques (his 10 commandments) which were as much for my benefit as my daughter's. Now at the age of 29, my daughter is happy and un-afraid of life's many challenges with a powerful commitment to personal growth. She is definitely one of my favorite people and the amazing thing is that in spite of financial hardships, she looks back on her childhood and as one where she was blessed to have me as her mother. I have Dr Dobson's book to thank for some of that as his methods helped to keep me sane through all the madness of my highly un-orthodox lifestyle. Strangely enough, I have also found his techniques to work perfectly well while managing my employees. Kind of "The One Minute Manager" (Spencer Johnson & Kenneth Blanchard) for parents.