I've read many parenting books but this one is so logical and gives such great examples for specific situations. It is at times difficult to really take that "leap of faith" but the consequences are worth it. My child is learning to take responsibility for his own actions and choices. I have already recommended this book to my friends.

This book was recommended to us by the instructor in charge of our Foster Parent Training class. We have yet to try the techniques, since said foster children have yet to materialize.
I hope I can deliver the lines in this book without sarcasm or reprisal. Here's one: "You're welcome to join us for dinner once you're done mowing the lawn." I think Future Foster Child will just call his social worker and tell her that we refuse to feed him. Perhaps we will modify this one: Regular dinner is served between 6 and 6:30 for those whose chores are complete; certain healthy snacks are available until bedtime.
Still, the techniques are so perfectly logical that I laughed out loud while reading this book. I love this one:
Kid won't go to bed without a fuss? Declare that there is no longer a bedtime. Starting at 8pm, grownups get Personal Time. During Personal Time, children are not to be seen or heard. Oh, and wake up time is 6am. It is much easier to wake children up than to make them go to bed. Priceless!!!

If, after having kids, you want to get some semblance of control back in your life, this is the book for you. You learn how giving up some control not only provides you with what you need, it puts your kids on the road to living healthy, productive lives. By learning the elements of self esteem, a parent can raise a kid who reconizes they have power over their lives and are not victims, take responsibility for their lives, and listen to the voice inside them instead of the roaring voices of their peers. A MUST READ for today's generation.

A great book to read to help communicate with children. It has stopped the nagging and life is grand in our home.

My aunt who is a retired teacher recommended this book to help us deal with our 5 year old daughter. My daughter is a very gifted child, but emotionally immature, and had constant tantrums. After reading some of the reviews, I was apprehensive about buying this book, but decided I had to try something different. This book has been wonderful. I don't understand if you use the book correctly how it is dangerous...people take things completely out of context. The book is about teaching your children to make good choices; obviously the choices have to be one's that your child is able to make. For my daughter when she had a tantrum I would say something like...oh ow...looks like someone is cranky, you can be cranky in your bedroom or you can be happy out here. If she continued her tantrum I say, would you like to walk to your room yourself, or would you like me to carry you. I always had to carry her kicking and screaming...anyway at first she would throw huge fits in her room opening and slamming the door, screaming at us. We just ignored it, after awhile the time she spent in her room got shorter and shorter, and much calmer. Now she almost never has tantrums, if she gets cranky I say oh ow, and sometimes she will just go sit in her room for a minute, collect herself and then come back out. The thing with this program is I never argue, I stay in a calm happy mood and she gets no reaction out of me, it is wonderful. Another example was wearing a jacket. My daughter would throw fits when she had to put on a coat, it was awful. One evening after dinner my husband was taking the kids for a walk, it was about 40 degrees she had on a dress with no tights, I began to tell her she needed a coat and socks to go, and she started her usual tantrum, and I decided to follow the book and let her not wear either. I told my husband to go around the block first, when they got to our house she ran in shivering, put on her coat, a hat, scarf and mittens by herself, and has worn them everyday since, without any problems. I know that some parents think this is outrageous letting my daughter be cold, I purposely did this before it is bitter cold, obviously you don't let your child go out in below 0 weather and let them get frost bite, the authors probably assume that people will use their brains. I did notice the newer versions do have a lot of disclaimers on what not to do...they must have read the reviews:).

Great book! I have really learned some great techniques from this book that are already working. Although I do not agree with everything, the techniques that I have implemented so far seem to be working.

So far, I have only read the first few chapters and have already received a lot of great information. This book has opened my eyes to different parenting methods and the pros and cons of each. My son is only 11 months old and I have already received great information that I could have used when he was 9 months old. This book is an easy read and it keeps your attention. I look forward to learning more from this book.

Parenting with Love and Logic has very good information in it to help deal with your children not only when they misbehave, but how to handle them when they do things right, too.
I love the examples they give. I have actually used a couple of them. I love the "Uh, oh" song! Works great with my 3 year old.

I found that the strategies employed in this book work just as well with my 45 year old spouse as
with my 6 year old daughter.

This is one of the best parenting books out there using the latest approaches. Another book that I thought think is very powerful is Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullying- yes its about bullying but mostly about raising happy, empowered and successful children.

I thought this book was just OK. Much of the information was good and I will use it in our home. However, the examples they used in this book were outrageous. Who in this day and age is going to let their kid off to walk home. Also, allowing a child to determine whether they go to school or not is silly.

For the people reviewing this book who think it is cruel to children, or might lead to a drop in self-esteem, I suggest reading a study by a Dr. Dweck. It did a study on praising children, and the gist of the study is that children respond better to being told they are hard workers than being told they're smart. How does this relate to the book? Instead of constantly coddling your child, Love and Logic encourages you to put your confidence in their abilities, implying that you think they can work through their problems. This is great for self-esteem! Taking responsibility for yourself is a huge confidence builder (take it from someone whose mom was still making Dr. appointments for her at 21). Everyone fails. Letting your children make small mistakes ,and believe me, being cold all day because you didn't want to bring your coat is a SMALL mistake, helps them see that they can deal with the consequences of their failures/mistakes, making them more willing to try things. And for those who think Love and Logic doesn't offer good advice about parenting, keep in mind that this is a book about disciplining children. It specifically states in Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood to make sure your children enjoy being with you so that sending them to their rooms seems like a punishment. It also says to set a responsible example and take care of yourself, but that's about the extent of their off-disciplinarian parenting advice. It doesn't make it a bad book, just like you wouldn't consider a history text incomplete for not having math in it. I thought it was a great book and have had much success with it, as has my sister who introduced me to it. I recommend it to anyone I see struggling with their children.

My family is getting ready to adopt a special needs child and they were told to purchase this book along with the Martian Child movie. We purchased both of these items and they are very good to help in the thought processes behind a special needs child. The book shows a completely different way in bringing up children versus the old fashioned way. We have not finished the book yet but we are darn sure it is going to help.

One of the co-authors of this book (Foster Cline, M.D.) is the psychiatrist whose "attachment therapy" resulted in deaths and torture of children. (See "Advocates for Children in Therapy" at http://www.childrenintherapy.org/.) My child -- now 20 and an honors student adored by family and friends -- had oppositional and destructive behavior with tantrums. My husband and I followed advice similar to that in this book, culminating when our son became suicidal at age 8. At that point my husband and I looked at each other with the simultaneous unspoken thought: "We can't keep treating him this way." We instead relied on our own sense of how far to go. Later, when I read, "The Explosive Child" by Ross Green, I said to myself, "This man has written a book describing how we decided to raise our son!" It was such a relief to read, "The Explosive Child." Our change in approach paid off -- and the medications finally were tweaked correctly, and guess what: his behavior changed overnight from awful to excellent. It wasn't that he didn't WANT to behave like others: it was that he COULDN'T. As soon as the medications allowed him to control his behavior and distorted perceptions, all the good parenting and modeling we had done kicked in immediately. "Love and Logic" is based on the belief that natural consequences are all that's needed -- but if your child has a brain disorder that causes a distorted view of what's happening, the consequences you would have to resort to would be torture.
It's MUCH MUCH better to understand the disorder and how it is distorting your child's thoughts and perceptions, and get it treated by a board-certified child psychiatrist. Also, read, "The Explosive Child." (By the way, our son has not taken any medications in three years. The medications bought him time to mature enough to be able to make use of cognitive-behavioral techniques to control his anxiety. I also think the medications may have allowed his brain to develop normally so that eventually he didn't need them.)

There are a ton of "parenting" books available but this one is helping me a great deal. Good illustrations and easy to read; the logic makes sense and the love is there.

This a an outstanding book for parents to learn those parenting skills necessary to raise happy and healthy children. Another must-read for parents is Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullyingwhich is about raising empowering children who will never become victims or bullies.

This is a no nonsense approach to keeping your cool while
helping your kids listen and learn about life. Even though
it might not work with all kids this book is a must read
for any parent the earlier you read it the better.

My son just turned 2 and is at a very independant age. I wanted to write this review because of one that I read about this book. One thing is that no one can go by 1 book and take it as gospel (obviously) but there are a lot of great things that make you stop and reflect with this book. I can honestly say that I can now get my son to wear a jacket and let me change his diaper because I give him choices that still get me what I want. "do you want to wear your blue jacket or your red jacket" he is so consumed with what color he wants to wear that he forgets that he didn't want to wear a jacket in the first place at 55*. As simple as it seems, it works over 90% of the time with my son. I even got my husband on board because he saw the results.
As for the "spanking" most of this book I did agree with. I will not swat my son on the butt for throwing his food on the floor, but I will if he runs into the street! Not one time in this book does it suggest spanking as a solution to anything.
It is an easy read and worth every minute.

This book was helpful and informative for us. We always need extra help and good ideas, this book offers both. We have seen a change in our child too, as we offer more choices and love to him.

I would highly recomend this book to anyone that wants help parenting there kids the christian way.

My sister's partner just has the lovliest kids (5, 13 & 15). My own had a habit of being rude to me, ignoring my requests for cooperation around the house and being very ungrateful for all the things they have. I begged her to tell me her secret & she recommended this book. I got it from the library & decided to purchase my own copy within a week. Our home life has changed drastically! I hardly ever yell now. My eldest, 9 yrs old, says he doesn't like the Love & Logic approach - he'd rather I just yell.....

Helpful tips: Really, this only works if you (the parent) doesn't nag & lecture or go into 'I-told-you-do-so' moralizing, etc.
GOOD LUCK!

While enjoyed this book, I wish I would have bought the one geared more towards the individual ages of my kids. There was a lot of irrelevant information that was given, but over all the system worked wonders on my kids. I would recommend getting one of the others written by the same author, but geared towards the age of kids you have.

I am not a licensed child therapist, but I am a journalist (and parent) who has done quite a bit of research into this topic. While this book may seem broadly appealing, especially for parents who are at wits' end and are looking for a quick solution to behavioral and disciplinary problems, I would urge readers great caution and more than a grain of salt if they intend to apply the methodologies listed within.

Readers should understand that while this book appears to offer a balanced approach based on teaching a child to understand the consequences of his decisions, it advocates some approaches -- for example, spanking -- that have been proven by the scientific community to be ineffective. As other one- and two-star reviewers have noted, other "consequences" are borderline abusive (withholding food, for instance).

It bears noting that the primary author, Foster Cline, is a pioneer of a very controversial therapeutic approach called Attachment Therapy, in which children are physically restrained and physically and verbally tormented (some would say tortured) in an attempt to get them to acknowledge the dominant role of the parent and to "give up" rage and related behaviors. Dr. Cline in 1995 was charged with various breaches of professional conduct by the Colorado State Board of Medical Examiners.

Attachment Therapy is viewed with at best skepticism and at worst horror by the mainstream psychiatric community. The approach has been implicated in the deaths of four children (ranging in age from 10 to 2) in which AT therapists and/or parents have suffocated or crushed children and in one case caused death by overhydration, when a four-year-old was force-fed water after she drank her sister's juice.

Please be very careful if you choose to purchase this book and put the principles into action. Do not feel you have to follow the guidelines as gospel and if anything seems wrong to you as a parent, heed your conscience. Better yet, eschew this book and look for those based on sounder psychological principles (the books by Adele Faber are excellent).

Love the concepts and book ~ a real must read !
Some suggestions seem to be far fetched but the book gave me tons of valuable inputs and I guess everybody should implement only the strategies they strongly believe in anyhow.

I borrowed this book from the library and have just finished reading part one. I will admit first that I am the product of what the authors call "helicopters," so some of the ideas in the book are unusual to me.

In general, I like the idea of natural consequences, enforcable choices, and encouraging children to think through their problems. I can see myself using these principles with my own daughter, but not always the way the authors do it. Some of the sample dialogues in the book are reasonable but many do not sound as genuine and empathetic as the authors imply.

Some of the examples in the book and in the "pearls" are making me very upset. In one case, a child has been neglecting her dog by not feeding it, so the mom just gives it away with no warning and without confronting the girl about it. The authors admit this is a really tough approach but that's how kids learn that unless you take care of your health and your animals serious illness or death can result. Now this sounds crazy to me. In our home, we think of pets as a family responsibility, so that might be one difference. Still, wouldn't it teach the girl more about empathy to sit her down and say "you can either come up with a schedule and feed the dog or we are giving it away, you have one week to improve." Why do these authors feel that giving someone a second chance is a bad thing? It seems this might teach her "if I don't fulfill my responsiblity, someone else will take care of it for me."

Another example is a mom who asked her son to do something and he mouths off and refuses. So the next day when he asks for a ride she says, yesterday you showed me that asking nicely can be ignored, so I'm not going to drive you to your activity, even though you asked nicely. Isn't that just being petty and/or spiteful? That's a great lesson for your kid.

A third example is a kid who blows his lunch money and allowance on a carnival and has no money for lunch at school. So he asks his dad if he can make a lunch from food in the fridge. The dad says, yes, but you have to pay for it because I already gave you money for lunch once. Really? Your kid offers to take responsibility to make his own lunch all week and you are going to charge him for it? I'd think remembering to make lunch everyday would teach him the lesson. I agree to not giving him more money, but charging for the food in the fridge sounds stingy - won't he learn that as part of the lesson too?

I think it is possible for kids to learn self-reliance with this method but some of the examples just sound like the kids would end up feeling like their parents are not willing to help them out without significant groveling. It sounds as though a Love and Logic parent is not supposed to give advice or help a kid work on the solution, or not until the child has time to ponder it and slink back to ask for help. I'm not advocating parents do the solving, just help, like talking it out with them or brainstorming. I thought helping others is an important value to teach our kids (not being doormats, being a sounding board to say "what do you think would happen if you used that solution?"). This seems to teach "I'm genuinely sorry you have a problem but it's still yours." Nice.

I just wonder if some of these examples I've listed would make the kid feel like their parents view them as impositions or that the parents really begrudge them something. I realize that how you do it depends on the age of the child, but some of this still seems pretty harsh the way the authors do it. In some cases I don't think that helping them is equal to bailing them out. The examples sound like the parent says "I know you will come up with a solution" and then they just walk away.

I greatly prefer How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and How to Listen so Kids Will Talk. It also emphasizes consequences and letting kids make choices and solve problems themselves but it shows you how to do this and keep talking with them at the same time. If Love and Logic is a turn-off for you, consider reading this other book before throwing out the consiquences/choices method entirely.

I have just finished reading the book, "Parenting with Love and Logic," by Foster Cline and Jim Fay. Because I am interested in going into the field of Marriage and Family Counseling, I found this book to give me new insight and understanding in working with couples dealing with parenting issues.

So many people struggle with effective parenting, and I like the approach this book gives. The author's goal is to help parents raise responsible kids that feel good about themselves. They begin by discussing ineffective parenting styles, and so many of us may see ourselves within those styles. They continue by giving a new model of parenting in which children are responsible for their actions and have logical consequences to each action. Children must know and understand these consequences, and be free to choose their own actins and accept responsibility for what they choose.

Kline and Fay talk about the concept of self-esteem and building a child's self-esteem. They bring up a great point between the difference between praise and encouragement and how to use the mistakes children make as opportunities.

I appreciated the chapter on setting limits and thinking through words as parents. The authors challenged me to say what I think and mean what I say, instead of making empty threads. They advocate gaining control through logical consequences and giving choices.

Finally, this book ends with what they term, "Love and Logic Pearls," where they discuss various situations and what the practical view of love and logic is in each situation. For example, dealing with anger issues, money, fighting, bedtime, tears, toilet training, temper tantrums, etc. (Cline & Fay, 2006).I found these to be extremely valuable resources and I have used them in my own parenting. I plan to use the concepts in this book as I counsel others. Because I have found these things to be effective myself, I can stand behind these wholeheartedly and explain them to my clients with confidence.

Online Counseling and Telephone Counseling could be a useful way to help struggling couples. To learn how to provide Online Counseling and Telephone Counseling, try this excellent clinical guide: The Therapist's Clinical Guide to Online Counseling and Telephone Counseling: The Definitive Training Guide for Clinical Practice

(review by Ginger Ernst)

Wow! This book has already changed the relationship between my headstrong daughter and I! Incredibly life changing - for both of us and she now feels like she has a little control in making decisions for her life! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

I love what this book brings to the table. It adds wonderful tools to my parenting tool box.

A have learned so mucho from this book. It is easy to follow and interesting.

My 23 year old daughter (raised on Love and Logic) recently told me that she has been asked by several adults about my secrets for child-rearing. They apparently like the kind of people my 4 kids are becoming and want to know what I've done. I first told her to tell them the jury is still out on whether the 4 have turned out well (the youngest is 12) and then they should be told to read Parenting With Love and Logic. I haven't actually read the book in years (so I am not able to comment on the 2006 edition) but in the early '90s, it was my ready reference. Jim Fay made a powerful point about teaching kids to listen to the voice in their head because when they are teenagers, they sure don't want to listen to parents so if the voice in their head isn't loud enough, they will listen to others. Now that 3 of my kids have navigated at least some of the teen years, I am constantly amazed at the good choices they make. It all started with "Do you want the blue sippy cup or the green one?". I started out with audio tapes (The Life Saver Kit) in 1987 and 20 years later I'm still enforcing natural consequences. This week my 12 year old had to call a cab and pay the $12 fare with Christmas gift money because she'd missed the school bus one too many times. It's hard to be the mean mom but as Cline/Fay write, the cost of a lesson gets more expensive, the older kids get. And the joy of launching a happy, considerate, self-sufficient adult child into the real world is worth it!

My 23 year old daughter (raised on Love and Logic) recently told me that she has been asked by several adults about my secrets for child-rearing. They apparently like the kind of people my 4 kids are becoming and want to know what I've done. I first told her to tell them the jury is still out on whether the 4 have turned out well (the youngest is 12) and then they should be told to read Parenting With Love and Logic. I haven't actually read the book in years (so I am not able to comment on the 2006 edition) but in the early '90s, it was my ready reference. Jim Fay made a powerful point about teaching kids to listen to the voice in their head because when they are teenagers, they sure don't want to listen to parents so if the voice in their head isn't loud enough, they will listen to others. Now that 3 of my kids have navigated at least some of the teen years, I am constantly amazed at the good choices they make. It all started with "Do you want the blue sippy cup or the green one?". I started out with audio tapes (The Life Saver Kit) in 1987 and 20 years later I'm still enforcing natural consequences. This week my 12 year old had to call a cab and pay the $12 fare with Christmas gift money because she'd missed the school bus one too many times. It's hard to be the mean mom but as Cline/Fay write, the cost of a lesson gets more expensive, the older kids get. And the joy of launching a happy, considerate, self-sufficient adult child into the real world is worth it!

This was a baby gift for my daughter in law. She loved it & it's great for first time parents.

The product was received in a timely manor and it was in good condition but I never received confirmation of it being sent or when i would expect it to arrive. Could have been better about communication but the product was great. Thanks

This is a great book. Someone taught this as a class at our church, but having the book is great. It obviously goes into more detail that you can cover in a 45 minute class over a few weeks. Our daughters are 3 and 1 and it's working great. Be sure to read the section on "basic German Shepherd". We thought Love and Logic meant never spanking, but that section gives a few times when you should. Other than those rare occasions, however, we don't have to spank, yell, or threaten, the way most of us were raised.

GET THIS BOOK!!!

p.s. If you plan on using this method of discipline, buy a copy of "Grandparenting With Love and Logic" too and give it to the grandparents, or everything will probably be out the window every time you visit them.

This is a must for parents who need help in managing children and their behavior. It illustrates how giving children a choice and allowing them to make a decision is the most effective way in dealing with them and teaching responsibility. I also recommend Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Childif you child is cranky. For older children, I recommend Win-Win Partnerships: Be on the Leading Edge with Synergistic Coachin I have used the process discussed in this book with my kids, wife, and employees. It offers a process on how to coach for change in behavior and ensure accountability. It is also research based. While it is a book geared towards business, it applies to families very well. Three must have books.

Very helpful. If you are a parent, then you should read this book. It has great alternatives to spanking and helps children take responsibility for themselves. We have yet to come near to mastering the tecniques in this book, but they are worth knowing. I wish I would have read this sooner.

The book is useless garbage. It advocates treating your child like an idiot, and children are not stupid, they know when they are being treated like they are stupid and they resent it. While it may seem logical to have children suffer the repercussions of bad choices, in the real world you cannot follow their examples unless you want Child Services at your door to take your children away.

It fits children into a cookie cutter mold, treating all children like they are the same and from what I've seen at the "Love and Logic" seminar, the adults that follow this are robotic too, adhering to their little "Love and Logic" mantra.

If anything they take love out of the whole thing and allow children to feel unloved and unsupported. If you follow the teachings of this series, don't be surprised if you wind up with sarcastic, cold, aloof children. That is, if they haven't been taken away from you by CPS for doing what it tells you in this book series.

There are several books out there that give advice on parenting with both love and logic, but this series does anything but that.

Logical consiquences and occasional spanking (done the right way) are perfectly fine but not to this extent! This takes it way too far! This book is ridiculous! Being sarcastic & showing no compassion for our kids will NOT help them!

I have a 5, 7, 9, and 11 year old. All VERY different personalities who need different parenting, which I'm looking for help with. While I totally agree with the primary concept of consequences for your actions, I also agree with alot of what "A Customer" says. I didn't like the tone of the book. I couldn't finish it. I have reviewed and purchased "Pick Up Your Socks..." and "Setting Limits..." I'm hoping it's not quite as "sicky sweet" as this book. (I also liked the idea, in this book, of giving the children choices - do what you're told or go to your room - you decide - I use the choices concept.)

I started reading this thinking yes that's true, and yes that makes total common sense. I want my child to grow to be a happy responsible individual capable of making good decisions throughout his life. With this book's suggestions, I can totally see the correlation. I loved the idea of making them own their own problem and knowing when it becomes my problem as well.

I bought these for my six year old daughter, she loves them. They're good quality, especially for the money. She really likes them because they're comfortable (and cute).

A wonderful book for parents. I really liked the part about "thinking words" vs. "fighting words" the best. As the author of the Sleepytown Beagle book series for children, I found this book a must have! ~Timothy Glass

Wow! These techniques actually work! They work well, efficeintly and the first time! Fun IS back in parenting, our girls are happier, more involved and thinking. We're actually getting the girls to sleep, the first time!

I couldn't even finish this book. I found it patronizing and DRY. I couldn't get past how he constantly used himself as the example of what to do "right" and how his son is the reflection of his perfect parenting. Perhaps that wasn't the intent, but that was my perception.

In a counseling office with parents, discipline is an issue that comes up...often. This book is the book on discipline that I recommend the most as a counselor who works with girls of all ages and their parents. A helpful and practical guide!Raising Girls

This book was recommended to me by a newly married woman with stepchildren. I, at the time, was dating a woman with children (none of my own). I was having a difficult time being an 'instant father', and didn't know what to do half the time. I loved this book, and used the information daily. When I am around children now, I still use the information in the book. When I have children of my own, you better believe I'll be re-reading this one. (I also bought this book for my brother)

There are not enough good things to say about this book. I have it in conjunction with Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood and contrary to some other reviewers, I love having them both together.

I can't recommend this parenting technique enough. I have a 2 year old boy and we started using love and logic principles just after his 2nd birthday. What a difference it made in us all!!! Just like the authors say - it puts the fun back in being a parent. We are always getting comments on his calm demeanor and our ability to always be patient.

If you or someone you know is struggling with a child, toddler to preteen, this book will change the family for the better. It gives you the exact things to say in all kinds of situations, in fact half to book is dedicated to doing just that. This book gives you the tools to restore peace, happiness, hope, order and fun back into your home. I'm so thankful for this book!

All my friend and I SWEAR by this book. This my not be the ONLY book you need, but it surely is one key book you MUST have. Extremely practical - there are actual cases and actual phrases to use, while explaining the philosophy behind the approach. This is the ultimate "how to" book on raising responsible, moral, kind children who understand cause and effect! It also takes the "you vs me" out of it and teaches children that their choices and actions have consequences. As a Christian, it sits well with me. It is especially excellent with defiant or contrary children, and children raise in foster homes or others who have attachment challenges.

This is an excellent book on parenting, the best my wife and I have found. The principles work very well - we wish we had found it earlier. We and our children are much happier after using this book.

This is very sound parenting. This book teaches you how to raise responsible children who think about the consequences of their actions. It teaches principles and gives you strategies to help your children anticipate the real consequences of their actions - a good thing to learn when you're still a child and "the price tag is still low."

This book is not the draconian book that some negative reviewers have interpretted it to be. The authors advocate genuine compassion for children who experience realistic consequences to their bad choices. It is true that the principles in this book likely require more work on the part of the parent than other approaches.

Regarding whether this book advocates corporal punishment - it does not. Page 221 from the 2006 edition:

"Spankings ... give kids a quick escape from the responsibility of living with a bad choice. Instead of having to live with consequences and think about solutions, youngsters have a brief moment of pain, and then they're off the hook."

"The original edition of this book advocateded the use of spanking in limited, controlled situations. However, as we have grown in our professions and as more valid research has become available, we have changed our postion. There are many good reasons to avoid the use of spankings...[list follows]."

Any author who presents themselves as wanting to help children and then advocates corporal punishment is a sociopath at worst or terribly misguided at best. They should never yield power over someone smaller or weaker than themselves. Maybe the authors need to be physically bullied (ex. spanked) by someone 100+ lbs bigger than them so they can feel what a child feels when some stupid or gullible adult follows their advice. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Parents and caregivers- please think long and hard before you hit the children who are depending on you for love and protection. There are much better ways of discipling children. Learn them.