by Craig Pierce ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 8, 2013
Reminds parents that much of their power and influence resides in listening and paying attention.
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Pierce’s guide for teaching parents how to manage their own and their children’s daily distractions.
Founder and president of the Southwest Family Guidance Center and Institute, Pierce encourages parents to reconsider how to manage the interruptions of smartphones and computers in an effort to form healthier and happier relationships with their children. The author coined the term “Attunetion”—a combination of “paying attention” and “tuning in”—and throughout the book, he encourages parents to do both. “[N]o one knows your kids and what they need better than you do,” he says. Pierce offers solutions to day-to-day problems that most parents encounter—from finding more time to give children focused and sincere attention to the impact on families of technological distractions like social media. As part of this solution-based approach, Pierce emphasizes the importance of developing empathy for a child’s emotional health. In order for a child to feel compassion, the author believes, he or she needs to be treated with compassion. The wide-ranging guide comprises 12 chapters, including “Raising Perfect Kids? Careful What You Wish For,” which discusses the benefit of allowing your child some autonomy; “Maxed Out Minds: The Impact of Technology on Growing Kids”; and “When ‘Good’ Kids Behave Badly.” Pierce understands the significance that technology plays in the lives of children growing up today but wants parents to understand that “[w]hatever rules you make for your family, the goal is to teach kids how to master technology without it mastering them.” Pierce believes that giving a child more attention can be something that helps the entire family. His suggestions are straightforward—don’t text while your child is talking to you, for example, and make time to spend with your teenagers rather than expecting them to schedule you into their routine—but that’s what makes them so helpful and manageable. One of the book’s main strengths is that Pierce acknowledges, without judgment or condemnation, the many distractions that both parents and kids face in this modern technological age. The author doesn’t point fingers or belittle the reader but rather offers encouragement and support.
Reminds parents that much of their power and influence resides in listening and paying attention.Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615703602
Page Count: 112
Publisher: The Attunetion Approach
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Elijah Wald ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2015
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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by William Strunk & E.B. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1972
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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