Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD, is an internationally published author,
psychologist, and mother of four. She is a trusted expert on
parenting and children's feelings and friendships who is frequently
quoted in major magazines and newspapers and has been a featured
guest on national radio and television shows. Her books have been
translated into seven languages. She is a professor for the Great
Courses, serves on the advisory board for Parents magazine,
and writes the popular Growing Friendships blog for
Psychology Today. Dr. Kennedy-Moore has a private practice
in Princeton, New Jersey, where she works with adults, children,
and families. Visit her online at EileenKennedyMoore.com.
Christine McLaughlin is a mom to three boys, as well as a prolific
writer, editor, and author. With several hundred nonfiction
articles to her credit-published in popular magazines and
websites-her written work focuses mainly on parenting and health
topics. She is the author of eight books including Growing
Friendships and Growing Feelings (both written with Dr.
Eileen Kennedy-Moore), The Dog Lover's Companion to
Philadelphia, and American Red Cross: Dog First Aid and
American Red Cross: Cat First Aid. Learn more at
ChristineMcLaughlin.net.
"Growing Friendships is the secret playbook you'll wish
you'd had when you were growing up. It's packed with clever
strategies that help kids handle the awkward, upsetting, and
confusing social situations that happen to everyone. The fun
cartoons make the advice light-hearted and easy to swallow." --
Diane Debrovner, deputy editor of * Parents magazine
*
"Finally! A gap in the literature of friendship is filled.
Growing Friendships is profound and subtle, clear and
humorous. Anyone, of any age, who reads it will benefit." --
Wendy Mogel, PhD, author of The Blessing of a Skinned
Knee
"Kids who have social skill challenges often view friendship as an
event or a product (Hi, I'm Michael. Let's be best friends and
have a sleepover tonight.). They do not understand that
friendship is a PROCESS with specific steps and sequences. Eileen
Kennedy-Moore brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and
sensitivity to this issue. Her book Growing Friendships
teaches kids the strategies they can use to establish--and
maintain--peer relationships. Her unique and entertaining format
holds the child's attention and makes these complex concepts
understandable and within reach. It will be an invaluable tool for
parents and professionals as they try to prevent their child from
hearing the most dreaded words in childhood: 'Sorry, you can't
sit there. That seat's taken.' " -- Richard D. Lavoie,
author of It's So Much Work to be Your Friend
"Funny, practical, and not at all preachy-Growing
Friendships offers spot-on, research-based friendship advice
for girls AND boys. Highly recommended! This must-read book is the
Google Maps to friendship that every kid needs " -- Michele
Borba, author of Unselfie
"This book is so important! All children face friendship challenges
at some point and Growing Friendships offers kids real
help-and enough giggles to make the messages fun and memorable." --
Amy McCready, author of If I Have to Tell You One More
Time and The "Me, Me, Me" Epidemic
"Some kids intuitively know how to make and manage friendships.
Most don't. Growing Friendships is a kid-friendly guide that
uses simple language, engaging illustrations, and humor to help
girls AND boys master the mysteries of social interaction." --
Jennifer L. W. Fink, founder of BuildingBoys.net
"Practical examples, real-life solutions, and playful humor make
Growing Friendships a great resource. This insightful guide
can help kids become competent problem solvers, cope with common
social challenges, develop empathy, and build strong friendships."
-- Tina Payne Bryson, PhD, coauthor of bestsellers The
Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline
"This empowering and entertaining guide for kids shows ways to
maneuver the often tricky, confusing, and challenging journey to
build and maintain positive friendships. Not only do children learn
strategies to make new friends, handle stressful situations, say
'no' to a pushy peer, and be a great team member, Growing
Friendships makes the process fun and meaningful for the entire
family." -- Marilyn Price-Mitchell, PhD, developmental
psychologist and founder of Roots of Action
"Children's friendships are a rollercoaster of emotion and
conflict-fun and exciting when a friendship is going well, but
challenging and even crushing when it's not. Growing
Friendships taps into the real-life problems kids face-from the
friend who tells your secret to the one who likes you one day and
won't play with you the next. This spot-on guide navigates the
slippery slope of inevitable difficulties with kid humor and
compassion to demonstrate not only how to mend friendships or let
them go, but also how to be a good friend. If you have school-age
children they-and you-need this book." -- Susan Newman, PhD,
social psychologist and author of Little Things Long
Remembered and The Case for the Only Child
"The complexities of friendships in the school-aged years can be
the most perplexing for students, parents, and educators alike.
Growing Friendships gives research-based, concrete, and
effective solutions for navigating these relationships. A tool
every school should have!" -- Kelly Bos, MSW, RSW,
psychotherapist, parent, and former school counselor
"For any child struggling with friendships, this book will be a
source of comfort, guidance, and fun, with its wonderful
illustrations and child-centered dialogue. Counselors,
psychologists, and parents, this is a book to read with the
children you care about." -- Maurice J. Elias, PhD, Rutgers
University, coauthor of The Joys and Oys of Parenting and
Emotionally Intelligent Parenting
Written for kids (specifically 6 -9 year olds) this is a book that
parents will want to read as well. It offers some terrific advice
for helping young people navigate the complicated waters of social
interaction. These authors return to the basics to explain social
and face-to-face communication skills to children who are living in
a mostly virtual world. What appears to be silly dialogue between a
cartoon cat and dog, actually contains some powerful lessons about
how to approach and interact with other children. The fact that it
makes these encounters humorous allows children to feel more
comfortable about risking personal contact with other children.
Making friends and keeping them, joining the fun, how to share,
when to say NO, dealing with bullying, joining a group, and moving
past conflict are all topics which are discussed in kid-friendly
terms with real-world applications. In our fast-paced and
disruptive world, we're losing sight of the kitchen-table wisdom
that children used to take refuge in. This book puts kids and their
parents back in touch with basic, tried and true, social skills,
and the ways in which those skills can be used.
* Retailing Insight *
Kennedy-Moore and McLaughlin highlight five skills-reaching out,
stepping back, blending in, speaking up, and letting go-to help
readers make and maintain friendships. Each chapter introduces a
dilemma relating to one of 15 fictional kids: Aiden tries too hard
to be funny, Susan assumes that others are being mean behind her
back, and Mackenzie has trouble joining a group. Mingus's cartoon
spot illustrations and comics sequences add humor and help
illustrate various points (such as the "power difference" involved
in bullying, versus other social conflicts). Multiple-choice
quizzes and reader-directed questions ("Do you have a habit of
apologizing when you didn't do anything wrong?") invite children to
apply these ideas to their own developing relationships. --
Publishers Weekly * May 15, 2017 *
A how-to book for making friends, is clear and entertaining as well
as informative, could be a very useful tool. Many kids struggle
with the myriad aspects of navigating the day-to-day complexity of
interpersonal relationships. Combining real-life examples,
attractive cartoon illustrations, and humorous commentary from a
snarky cat and a friendly dog, this upbeat effort provides ample
useful advice. Making friends and keeping them, dealing with
bullying and distinguishing it from simple teasing, speaking up for
oneself and others, being a good sport, figuring out how to join in
a group activity (including choosing the right activity to join),
and matching the tone of a conversation are just a few of the
topics covered. The presentation is clear, reasonable, and specific
enough to be practical, and it begins with very basic skills such
as greeting others. Practice situations, including a couple where
friends won't take no for an answer, provide opportunities to try
new skills in low-stress situations. This handbook is highly
recommended for high-functioning autistic children as well as
anyone who suffers from social awkwardness. The cover depicts both
a white and a black child. The simple chapter format makes it
possible to just practice certain skills without having to read
through the entire work. A fun handbook for any child who has ever
wanted another friend but been uncertain how to accomplish that.
(Nonfiction. 8-12) -- Kirkus Reviews * 5/1/17 *
For children and preteens, perhaps no other aspect of life is as
stressful as making and maintaining friendships. The author team of
Kennedy-Moore and McLaughlin offers sound advice from the
perspectives of psychologist, parent, blogger, and therapist. Using
fun cartoons, relatable stories, metaphors, and bulleted summaries,
this provides basic skills training for kids looking to widen their
social circles. From reaching out to make initial contact with
potential friends, through navigating tricky situations and
mitigating arguments, myriad issues are described. Readers are
encouraged not to just follow prescribed advice but to consider the
feelings of others and to use their own judgment in choosing a
course of action. Many of these skills are important lifelong
lessons that will benefit readers long after their adolescence.
While skills like saying no and compromising may be intuitive to
some, for many others, particularly those in their awkward
preteens, the advice in the book will be invaluable. This is an
authoritative and appealing resource for children working on
fitting in and finding a tribe. - Erin Anderson --
Booklist * June 2017 *
This guide to friendships is simply illustrated and full of useful
information. Written by a child psychologist and a professional
parenting writer, this book goes over basic information explaining
how body language and verbal signals can help signal the
progression of a friendship. It provides basic coping skills for
anxiety so that readers can attract more friends. There is also a
section on bullying and learning to say no. The information is a
lot to digest for a younger crowd, while the conflicts presented
are too young for a middle grade audience. Recurring dog and cat
mascots are supposed to provide a bit of levity but just end up
being diverting. The section on blending in may put off more
independent and individualistic types, and the section on anxiety
isn't always clear about the feelings it's trying to help children
cope with. Overall, though, the information is accurate and
helpful. VERDICT A decent guide for younger middle grade
collections, even adults could learn something from this book. --
School Library Journal * August 2017 *
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