10-Minute Home Repairs

An indispensable guide for home owners and renters alike, this handy little book will show you how to put on a new toilet seat, change an air filter, unclog a drain, caulk a sink, patch a hole in the wall, change a lock, replace washer hoses, stop floor creaks and hinge shrieks, level an appliance, and more than 190 other quick fixes that every home eventually needs. Learn the pros' secrets for fast, lasting repairs; the tools of the trade; emergency solutions using stuff you already have around the house; when to call in a pro; and finishing tricks that will make your friends think you've spent a bundle when it just took a little know-how. Things break; things get old; things wear out. Stop ignoring them and start feeling proud of your house (and yourself) with this handy book for the aspiring handyman and handywoman.
 

10-Minute Life Lessons for Kids: 52 Fun and Simple Games and Activities to Teach Your Child Honesty, Trust, Love, and Other Important Values

This is an interesting and useful book. It provides a wide range of activities to use with children to help them learn about themselves and understanding others. Many of the activities offer ways to accommodate for older or younger audiences, and some are specific to ages. The range of topics addressed is rather inclusive, and the activities are designed to appeal to all types of learners (visual, auditory, kinesthetic). The activities offer a creative approach to each topic, and are nice springboards for deeper discussions. 
 

1001 Ways to Cut Your Expenses

This excellent book by Jonathan Pond will provide you with 1001 practical ways (that you won't find anywhere else) to reduce expenses and to invest or expand your lifestyle.
 

101 Secrets A Good Dad Knows

"...a quick, hands-on guide for dads who are looking to spend quality time with their kids."

101 Things Every Kid Should Do Growing Up

A wealth of creative experiences for building a well-rounded childhood. This hands-on, imaginative book offers 101 experiences every child should have as they grow toward adulthood. Each entree provides practical suggestions that help you make each of these experiences a reality.

365 SMART AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

“This book is for parents, teachers, youth leaders and families. But most of all, it is for kids who want fun and imaginative activities to enjoy after school and during weekends…”

365 Days of Creative Play

"Projects that you can do with your kids, and even better, activities they can do by themselves." Family Circle "Now there is a solution to every day of the year." Parenting This amazing resource of fun and thoughtful activities for kids ages two years and up will help encourage their creativity and learning through play. Using only safe, simple household supplies, 365 Days of Creative Play is great for parents, grandparents and childcare providers. Illustrated by children. 
 

365 Afterschool Activities: TV-Free Fun for Kids 7-12

As a mother of two young boys, age 6 and 8, I can tell you that kids would much rather plop down and watch cartoons rather than make their own fun. Ms. Ellison's book has changed all that in my family. Now the kids flip through the book with me to find an activity they'd like to do, and don't even complain that they're missing their favorite TV shows! My oldest son has even started a club for the kids in our neighborhood based on an activity in the book. Thank you, Ms. Ellison, for helping my family turn off the TV and turn on their brains! 
 

365 Foods Kids Love to Eat : Nutritious and Kid-Tested

365 Foods Kids Love To Eat contains carefully chosen, kitchen-tested recipes that while appealing to the whole family, are especially attractive to kids with finicky appetites. With informative guides on ingredient substitution and healthful suggestions, 365 Foods Kids Love To Eat encourages healthy attitudes towards food and lifelong wholesome eating habits. Not only are the recipes nutrition, but they are also easy to prepare and wonderfully varied. These recipes are ideal for aspiring young chefs to "do-it-themselves", and parents will find a great many ideas including suggestions in the areas of foreign foods, peanut butter, parties, and lunch boxes. 365 Foods Kids Love To Eat is highly recommended for any family cookbook shelf, and one that will be used time and time again as boys and girls ask that universal question, "What's to eat?".
 

Popular Mechanics 500 Simple Home Repair Solutions

All homeowners know there’s always something that needs repairing or upgrading. They just may not know how to solve the problem. But Norman Becker, the writer of Popular Mechanics “Homeowners Clinic” column, is here to help them fix those annoying, and sometimes dangerous, household occurrences. Presented in an accessible question and answer format, the information comes from real-life situations faced by homeowners. It’s all divided into three easy-to-follow major sections: Exterior, Interior, and Electromechanicals. Every component is covered, from shingle moss on the roof to the wood-destroying insects in the foundation, plus walls, windows, doors, paved areas, landscaping, basement crawl spaces, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and more. Every homeowner needs this reference—now or in the future.
 

A Man Called Daddy

In 36 stories, Hugh O'Neill blends the daily joy of Robert Fulgham with the humor of Dave Berry to create a "laugh-out-loud funny" (according to Child magazine) look at fatherhood. Hugh O'Neill recounts such moments as discovering a turtle in his glove compartment, finding fruit in his shoes, encountering something gooey in his VCR, making a Halloween costume from a spaghetti strainer and the small rug from the hall, and handling the spiraling cost of a family vacation when his ten-year-old son learns that he, too, can charge things to the room. This celebration of fatherhood offers new fathers a humorous and empathetic guide to rearing children and gives veteran dads a way of reminiscing about their own paternal adventures. Moms, dads, and grandparents will fondly identify with the dozens of stories delightfully told with a familiar ring.
 

A Man, a Can, a Plan : 50 Great Guy Meals Even You Can Make

A Man, A Can, A Plan, inspired by an article in the most popular men's magazine, Men's Health, is a cookbook that presents 60 simple, inexpensive recipes featuring ingredients guys have right in their cupboards- canned food. Great and healthy food can be had for a low price and minimum effort, and A Man, A Can, A Plan lays it all out, in pictorial, easy-to-follow steps, for the culinary-challenged. It features special sections on cooking for her and cooking for the morning after for dudes with a lady on their minds, and its special lay-flat design makes it incredibly practical for countertop use. Author David Joachim received the 1999 James Beard Award for Steven Raichlens Healthy Latin Cooking, so he knows his stuff and makes it accessible to beginners and experienced guys as well. Get your can openers ready to rumble! 
 

Baby Play : 100 Fun-Filled Activities To Maximize Your Baby's Potential

Includes over 100 activities for babies 0-12 months. "There are so many activities that I would never have thought of. Some are obvious and what every parent does but many are simple, use household objects, are fun and are new to us. I like having activities that don't require the latest and greatest toy."

Barney and Friends: observar, jugar y aprender

(Barney and Friends: Watch, Play and Learn). Richardson, TX: Lyons Group. A short book of activities for young children. (Spanish version).

Basic House Wiring

Be your own electrician--install ceiling fixtures or repair lamps, add an alarm or intercom system, install outside lighting, even update your wiring--with this do-it-yourselfer's treasure. Over 500 photos and drawings and easy-to-follow directions.

Basic Wiring and Electrical Repairs

Extremely well written, with lots of photographs, this is an excellent book for a do it yourselfer, or just a home owner. The book covers basic repairs and maintenance, with a not too complicated introduction to electricity, but quickly gets down to the basics, with chapters on Wall Switches, Receptacles, Light Fixtures, Doorbells & Thermostats. The kind of book you can refer to and keep around. If you are remodeling or doing minor construction, an excellent next step up companion is the Advanced Home Wiring book.

Blending Families

Today more Americans are part of a second-marriage family than a first. Inevitably, these newly blended "stepfamilies" will be confronted by their own special problems and needs. This insightful problem-solving guide offers solid solutions--and includes real-life stories from families who've been through the adjustment process. Written by an award-winning author who specializes in health and family care, the book covers a wide range of issues--emotional, financial, disciplinary, and interpersonal. Naturally, there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution for second-marriage families. Each is unique, with its own composition, personalities, and problems. But with patience and understanding, this new family can work, live, and eventually love--together. Includes special sections on:

* Family communication
* Former spouses
* Grandparents and step-grandparents
* Juggling households
* Commuting children
* Discipline
* School issues
* Family customs and rituals
* Religious differences
* Reducing stress
* Adult time
* Money issues
* Holiday planning
* Vacations
* Curfews and other rules

Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5

It's Sunday after dark. Your baby is sick, hurt, or acting strangely, and the doctor won't be in until tomorrow. How can you find out what to do when your healthcare professionals are unreachable? You may only need to go as far as your bookshelf. The revised edition of Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 (the American Academy of Pediatrics' reference book for infancy through preschool), provides a wealth of authoritative child-care information in an easy-to-use format.

Chicken Soup for the Father & Daughter Soul: Stories to Celebrate the Love Between Dads & Daughters Throughout the Years

Few of life's relationships compare to that of a father and daughter. From the first time she grasps his hand and says her first words, to the day she moves out on her own, the bond between them is ever evolving: dad goes from childhood hero, feared inspector of boyfriends, to the sage friend of adulthood. Daughters mature from perfect little angels into rebellious teens to accomplished women who are dad's pride and joy. Chicken Soup for the Father and Daughter Soul celebrates this special relationship with stories about childhood, the trying years of adolescence, the poignancy of leaving home and even the years when daughters often become caretakers. The stories in this special volume are sure to evoke the fondest of memories and rekindle the bond between dads and their little girls. Key Features Chapters include: On Love, Substitute Dad, Forever Daddy's Little Girl, Healing Moments, Letting Go, A Matter of Perspective. Each inspiring story will evoke readers' own memories and deepen their love. These stories will reunite fathers and daughters, rekindle their bond and strengthen their love. This book will serve to increase their communication, "saying" what may have gone unspoken over the years. Chapter openers will feature heartwarming graphics.
 

Dad's Own Cookbook: Everything Your Mother Never Taught You

And now, for the kitchen impaired, a cookbook guaranteed to take you from zero to frittata in less than an hour. Dad's Own Cookbook offers culinary neophytes and novice cooks the chance to finally flex a little muscle in the kitchen. For singles who don't cook but are trying to impress a new date, this could be the dating guide of the century. Sloan starts with shopping tips, such as how to read product labels and select fresh produce. (Quick quiz for the experienced cooks out there: how do you tell if an egg is fresh?) He moves on to how to pick knives and pans, and how to measure (under the snappy title "Real Men Do Measure"), prepare, and serve. Along the way, Sloan offers solid advice on selecting a menu, what to prepare in advance, and how to time the cooking so everything comes out just right and at the same time. About the only thing Dad's Own Cookbook leaves out are excuses-- when it comes to cooking, you simply won't need them any more.
 

Dad's Own Housekeeping Book: 137 Bright Ideas

Written by a real guy, in a real guy’s voice and with a direct guy-to-guy point of view takes even the most Swiffer-challenged dad and shows him that housekeeping is no different from yard work, that if you can organize your shop you can organize a kitchen, and if you can load a trunk you can load a dishwasher. From laundry room to attic storage, from the “Five- Minute Attack Plan: Bathroom” to the all-out assault of spring cleaning (it really does make a big difference), from mold to stains to picking-up-after-the-kids-without-driving-yourself-crazy, this is the comprehensive crash course. Here’s how to do the laundry without dulling colors. Stock the pantry to make weekday meals infinitely easier. How to get mildew off the shower tiles. How to make a bed—in one minute. How to be best friends with baking soda—just one of the many tips the author gives for saving money. And what you can do in thirty minutes to make your house completely presentable for your mother-in-law. Sorry, no more excuses.

Do-It-Yourself Family: Fun and Useful Home Projects the Whole Family Can Make Together

Love do-it-yourself projects but have no time? Have your kids taken your hearth and home hostage? Let TV’s Superhandy Dad, Eric Stromer, Walk You Through Fun Do-It-Yourself Activities and Home Improvement Projects That You and Your Brood Can Enjoy! Eric Stromer brings his kid-friendly approach to this fun and practical how-to guide for large and small projects for the whole family. Taking you through the major areas in your home, Eric’s step-by-step techniques will show you how to:

•Create entertainment anywhere with an amazing portable activity center your kids will love, while you enjoy some adult time
•Rediscover the person you married by transforming your bedroom into an orderly romantic oasis
•Make supervised backyard playtime a snap with fun and functional improvements
•Control clutter in every room with storage your kids will enjoy maintaining

And with every project, motivate your kids–and their friends–to make your home improvement goals their weekend of play and a memorable time with you! Whether you’re an experienced do-it-yourselfer or a beginner who’s always dreamed of tackling home remodeling projects, let Eric Stromer get you started, keep you going, and help you finish like a pro.
 

Easy One-Dish Meals: New Easy One-Dish Recipes for Everyday Family Meals

Barbara C. Jones has written 8 cookbooks and has sold more than 400,000 copies. All her cookbooks focus on family dishes that you can serve everyday or on special occasions.

Encouraging Words for New Stepmothers

A small volume, yet a treasure trove of useful tips & reminders for anyone involved in any kind of relationship. Specifically targeted to the stepmothers amongst us, this is advice which is easy to read, absorb & put into practice. Encouraging Words will make an excellent gift for yourself, your own stepmother, or any well-loved friend or relative who finds themselves in this situation where a few encouraging words can make all the difference.
 

First Teachers: A Family Literacy Handbook for Parents, Policy-makers, and Literacy Providers

Offers annotated "snapshots" of ten pioneering and promising family literacy programs.
 

Learning and Growing: For Dads of Pre-Schoolers

Gear up for one of the greatest adventures of your life!  This book addresses specific challenges and key issues you'll face during your child's pre-school years.  These insights will help guide you to a lifelong, healthy relationship with your child.

Learn key tasks that will lead you to a lifetime of healthy relationship with your child. This concise book addresses the specific challenges, key issues (and joys!) dads face with preschoolers. Canfield provides lots of practical helps, a self-scoring feedback survey, recommendations for further reading, and more.
 

Frugal Living for Dummies

Feel like you’re trying to dig out from under a mountain of debt without a shovel? Tired of working your tail off just to break even? Is the high cost of living taking all the joy out of life? Unless you’re one of the top two percent of wealthiest Americans, all of the above should sound painfully familiar. While they’re trying to decide between the ski lodge in Telluride and the Tuscan villa, for the rest of us, it’s an endless litany of corporate lay-offs, stagnant wages, crushing credit card debt, skyrocketing medical costs, exorbitant utility bills, the high cost of higher education.... And they call this “the good life.” Is there a better way to live? Can you get what you need and what you want without killing yourself to get it? “Absolutely,” says frugal-living guru Deborah Taylor-Hough, and in Frugal Living For Dummies, she shows you how.
 

Fun on the Run: 324 Instant Family Activities

It's instant fun. Activities to do in minutes. Super-quick games to roll out at a moment's notice. Filling a need that every parent of young children has, 324 Anytime, Anywhere Activities! for Kids is a perfect antidote to those "booooring" car rides, endless waits in the doctor's office, restaurant fidgetiness, and assorted child-unfriendly chores. And you don't need to bring along any special props. Several years ago, Cynthia Copeland shared the wisdom of her three children in Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me, which has 356,000 copies in print. Now she's written a parents' survival guide for those times when kids seem more at wit's end than wise. In the car? Try Red Car, Blue Car, Old Car, New Car; How Far, How Fast?; Raindrop Race; or I Heard It!, where the first one to hear the secret word on the radio wins. While waiting for the pediatrician, try Sock' Em, Cents of Hearing, or Body Double--draw the outline of your child lying on the examination table paper, then let him or her fill it in. Stuck at the bus stop? Gather the kids to play Simon Does, Knot Happening, or Blind Man Walking. There are mind benders, story-telling games (including It Was a Dark and Stormy Night)--in all, hundreds of ways guaranteed to engage their imagination and lift their spirits. Not to mention yours.
 

Guide to Your Child's Symptoms: The American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Your Child's Symptoms: The Official, Complete Home Reference, Birth Through Adolescence

It would be nice to have pediatricians at your beck and call for every cough and wheeze, but the era of house visits is past. When the weather's raw and your child's in pain, start with your reference shelf. Donald Schiff and Steven Shelov have arranged the contents of the Guide to Your Child's Symptoms by the child's age: you'll find symptom guides from baby's colic, diarrhea, and spitting up to your adolescent's anxiety, depression, and skin problems. For each symptom, there's a description of usual causes, a chart of questions to consider, and what action to take. There's also an illustrated "First-Aid Manual." Guide to Your Child's Symptoms is a first-rate resource that explains when bed rest will do and when to get on the phone to your pediatrician.
 

Head Start Fun & Learning for Parents & Children

A handbook containing entertaining educational activities for parents and children. It is a collection of everyday things to do that can easily be done in a family's home, backyard or even away from home. The book also includes a list of questions to inspire parents to create additional activities. This publication is also appropriate for other families, child-care providers and classroom teams. (Reproduce as needed.)
 

Head Start Parent Nutrition Kit

Developed as part of the Head Start Nutrition Education Curriculum, this teaching guide is designed to actively involve parents in educating their children by demonstrating how they can help their children learn about healthy nutrition. The kit provides display ideas, parent newsletters that can be reproduced, and suggestions for planning successful parent workshops.
 

Healthwise Handbook: A Self-Care Guide for You

Eight out of ten health problems are cared for at home, and the award-winning Healthwise® Handbook helps people do a better job of managing their health problems. Topics range from ear infections to diabetes, first aid to eating well. A new chapter, Disasters and Public Health Threats, helps people prepare for and respond to emergencies like natural disasters. Readers can find more than 200 health problems with clear, easy-to-understand information and illustrations about: • Prevention, home treatment, and when to call a health professional. • How to prepare for doctor visits and communicate effectively with the doctor. • How to make wise decisions about tests, medications, and surgeries. • How to make lifestyle choices to improve health. • How to prepare and what to do for public health threats.
 

Helping Your Child Become a Reader

Years of research show clearly that children are more likely to succeed in learning when their families actively support them. When you and other family members read with your children, help them with homework, talk with their teachers, and participate in school or other learning activities, you give your children a tremendous advantage.
 

How to Be Your Daughter's Daddy: 365 Ways to Show Her You Care

How to Be Your Daughter's Daddy offers 365 simple and creative ideas to help you make your daughter feel special and valuable. Coming from the heart of a man who had only nine years to develop a relationship with one of his two daughters before she died of leukemia and who fought to help his other little girl sense her worth and uniqueness, these practical ideas will help you put your love into specific action that speaks volumes to your little girl.

 

How to Be Your Little Man's Dad: 365 Things to Do With Your Son

How to Be Your Little Man's Dad offers 365 simple and creative father-son activities that will foster the kind of relationship you both want. Written by Dan Bolin, the author of How to Be Your Daughter's Daddy, and Ken Sutterfield, who fathers two sons, this book will encourage you to be the dad your little man needs most-a dad who takes the time to show his son he loves him.
 

How To Clean Practically Anything

With first aid for carpet stains (blot with white clothes, immediately) and instructions on care for bronze, silver, and cast-iron, Consumer Reports continues its efforts to educate and protect the masses. There are details on house cleaning products, furniture care, clothes washers and fabric softeners, air cleaners and hand soaps, and a full appendix on stain removal. Next time you trip with your cup of coffee, you'll wish you had some fast answers.
 

How To Get Your Kid To Eat… But Not Too Much

"Feeding is a metaphor for the parent/child relationship overall," says Ellyn Satter, author of How to Get Your Kid to Eat ... But Not Too Much. Satter stresses her "Golden Rule" of parenting: parents are responsible for what is presented to eat and the manner in which it is presented. Children are responsible for how much or even whether they eat. Early chapters describe basic feeding principals. Satter then stresses ways to develop and maintain normal eating patterns from birth through adolescence, and provides solid information (and information on "solids") to both empower and relieve all parents worried about how their child eats. Later sections focus on feeding problems, obesity, special needs children, and eating disorders. How to Get Your Kid to Eat ... But Not Too Much may be the most sensible and accessible book on childhood feeding on the market.
 

I'm Their Dad! Not Their Babysitter!: Essays, Anecdotes and War Stories Celebrating Fatherhood

I’m Their Dad! Not Their Babysitter is a humorous collection of essays and anecdotes about family life as seen through a loving father’s eyes. Author Tim Herrera strikes a common chord with all parents by offering a charming and totally real look at the joys and frustrations of parenthood.

Keys to Successful Step-Fathering

Becoming a stepfather means new relationships, new struggles, and new joys. Here's a commonsense, practical guide that helps stepfathers ease into their new role. The author emphasizes how stepfathers must replace wishful thinking with realistic expectations. Suggestions for getting along with stepchildren and building lasting relationships, managing conflict, establishing authority, and communicating in a positive way are all included to help men fully enjoy the rewards of being a stepfather. "This book is right on the mark. It validated a lot of the emotions felt in this situation and explains how to deal with them positively. I would recommend this book to any stepfather."

Kitchen Table Play & Learn

Thirty easy ways you can give you children a head start on essential education skills Kitchen-Table Play Learn gives you structured yet fun lessons to teach your preschoolers the basics of education at home. These 30 lessons include games and activities that help you hone your children's motor skills, number and letter recognition, logic, and visual discrimination, as well as expose them to math, writing, and reading. 
 

Lunch Bag Notes: Everyday Advice From A Dad To His Daughter

When Al Parisiís daughter was a sophomore in high school, he began writing simple yet meaningful messages on her lunch bags each day. For the next year, Ann Marie Parisi treasured these notes, first in private and gradually with her friends at school. These short inspirational messages have now been collected in Lunch Bag Notes, a book for all teens to enjoy. Each daily note is accompanied by questions for reflection and space for journaling, inviting teenagers to engage in self-exploration and consider the importance of leading a faith-filled moral and ethical life.
 

Mack Daddy: Mastering Fatherhood Without Losing Your Style, Your Cool, or Your Mind

You're going to start laughing as soon as you pick up "Mack Daddy." But you may be half-way through before you realize just how insightful and wise the author really is. Sure, it's funny. But it also contains some of the most important advice a man could ever receive: not about how to climb the corporate ladder or improve a golf score, but how to be a better father. What's more important than that? Anybody who knows an underappreciated dad should make his day by having him read this. "While pregnant, I saw this book and knew my husband would enjoy it. (He's not your average guy). This author covers just about everything a father might encounter -- from delivery-room insanity to survival in a post-apocalyptic world -- and makes it all hilarious. As we read it, we laughed - a LOT. He actually took the author's advice and turned the labor room into a party. I'm glad he did. We laughed our baby into the world!"
 

Mars and Venus on a Date: A Guide to Navigating the 5 Stages of Dating to Create a Loving and Lasting Relationship

The latest tentacle of John Gray's formidable Mars and Venus octopus deals with a topic near to the heart of almost everybody--dating. With a lot of insight and common sense, Gray tackles the hard and often messy business of finding "a soul mate." Without fear or favor, Mars and Venus on a Date dissects the dynamics between men and women and the five stages each relationship must pass through: attraction, uncertainty, exclusivity, intimacy, and, finally, engagement (for marriage, of course). Even though Mars and Venus on a Date isn't The Rules by a long shot, the courtship it describes is surprisingly old-fashioned. It's chock-full of things your mother might say: "Most people find or are found by their soul mates when they are not really looking." "The man should never talk more than the woman." But how to know if the person you're with is your "soul mate?" Gray writes, "When our soul wants to marry our partner, it feels like a promise that we came into this world to keep." Which translates into, "When you know, you know."
 

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships

Relationship counselor John Gray focuses on the differences between men and women--men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, after all--and offers a simple solution: couples must acknowledge and accept these differences before they can develop happier relationships. In this unabridged version, Gray gives a spirited delivery of his message, especially when role-playing typical male/female interactions.