Faber A, Mazlish E: How to Talk So That Kids Will Listen. New York, NY: Avon Books; 1982; list price $6.95 (#2 on the 1988 bestseller list of books on child care of the Ingram Book Co, distributors of trade books).
Both nature and nurture are felt to shape children's behavior. The text addresses ways to open communication, gain cooperation, and resolved behavioral conflicts through communication. Written about children from early childhood to adolescence, parents' roles include nurturer and model of ideal behavior; parents' roles are allocated evenly across gender. The recommended management methods include active listening and rational argument, and to a lesser extent, positive and social reinforcement. The technigues are designed to be preventive, corrective, and instructive. Guidance in child management such as toilet training is generally absent. Parenting difficulties and peer pressure are addressed but there is little consideration of such issues as divorce, death, sibling rivalry, media influences, or special children's needs. There are no presumptions regarding family structure, parents' education, or presence of a homemaker. The book is easy to read and well-organized. It contains numerous illustrative, although somewhat idealized, vignettes of correct and incorrect application of the recommended technigues.