Sunday, July 15, 2012

Book Review and Give Away: What Not to Say by Sarah MacLaughlin


 Sarah MacLaughlin and I are doing a book review swap today. Here's where you can go to see her review of my new book, Consciously Parenting: What It Really Takes to Raise Emotionally Healthy Families. http://sarahsbalancingact.blogspot.com/2012/07/book-review-swap-with-consciously.html 

I’m delighted to introduce you to Sarah MacLaughlin, author of the book, What Not To Say: Tools for Talking with Young Children. Sarah is a licensed social worker in Maine and the mother of a 4 year-old little boy, who gives her lots of practice with what to say (or not to say).

I’ve got to tell you that the positive parent in me was going crazy with the title of this book. I don't know about you, but at this point in my parenting career, I'm pretty clear about what I don't want to do or say as a parent. Of  course, sometimes that is what is most readily accessible, isn't it?!  

But once I actually opened the book, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book was full of suggestions, helpful children's stories to read with your little ones if you're struggling with a particular issue, and lots of suggestions for what TO do. 

I was happy. And, it turns out that the way that it is written, the title is really perfect. She helps us all understand in simple language the phrases that most of us have heard and possibly used with our children, then what we need to know about it as parents, followed by suggestions for handling the situation positively. How great is that?!

What I love most about this book:
-It is short.
-It is easily digestible.
-No matter what page you open to, you’re going to find nuggets of wisdom.
-It is positive! Lots about what TO do with your kids. 
-It is based on current research on the brain, but I don't need a degree in neuroscience to apply it.
-Seriously, I loved the sweetness of having children's stories suggested that go along with the phrase to avoid with your young children. I always have parents asking me for stories and Sarah already did the work to find them! Yay, Sarah! 

This book would have really been a great resource for me when my own children were between the ages of one and six.  But even now that my children are older (8 ½ and 13 ½), there were still nuggets of wisdom that got me really thinking about my own journey and struggles as a parent. I definitely encourage you to check out this book and Sarah’s work.

I’m the book-end of Sarah’s month long blog tour. In the next day or so, Sarah will be giving away a Kindle Touch, so enter now if you’d like a chance to win! Details below.

Special Giveaway!
Please comment on this post about why you'd like your own copy of What Not to Say. Your comment enters you in the eBook Giveaway -- to win an ebook copy of What Not to Say: Tools for Talking with Young Children, in the format of your choice: PDF, epub, or Kindle format. Sarah will be giving away one copy at each blog stop and will announce it on the comments of this post tomorrow. Be sure to leave your email so we can contact you in case you're the winner!
Other stops and opportunities to win during this Blog Tour are listed on Sarah's blog here:
http://sarahsbalancingact.blogspot.com/p/blog-tour.html.
Also, you can enter at Sarah's site for the Grand Prize Giveaway: a Kindle Touch. Winner will be announced at the end of the tour after July 15th. Go here to enter: http://sarahsbalancingact.blogspot.com/p/blog-tour.html

About The Author
Sarah MacLaughlin has worked with children and families for over twenty years. With a background in early childhood education, she has previously been both a preschool teacher and nanny. Sarah is currently a licensed social worker at The Opportunity Alliance in South Portland, Maine, and works as the resource coordinator in therapeutic foster care. She serves on the board of Birth Roots, and writes the "Parenting Toolbox" column for a local parenting newspaper, Parent & Family. Sarah teaches classes and workshops locally, and consults with families everywhere. She considers it her life's work to to promote happy, well-adjusted people in the future by increasing awareness of how children are spoken to today. She is mom to a young son who gives her plenty of opportunities to take her own advice about What Not to Say. More information about Sarah and her work can be found at her site:
http://www.saramaclaughlin.com/ and her blog: http://sarahsbalancingact.blogspot.com.

4 comments:

Annie said...

Well, I'd love a copy because I am a mom of seven children, grandmother of two and will soon have a new baby at home. Add to that, after I read this book I will add it to our parish library where other moms can take advantage of it, too.




.....

Annie said...

mamaaidan@gmail.com

Sarah MacLaughlin said...

Awesome Annie! Will keep you posted on a winner.

Christie said...

As a voracious reader of child-rearing books, I'd like a copy to help continue to mold my own customized form of child techniques. The more tools I have, the better parent I can be to my little boy, who is 4 3/4.