Ask parents what they most want for their children and they will likely say, “to be happy.” Raising Happy Kids by parenting author and workshop leader Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer offers over 100 tips for parents and teachers, tips designed to help bring out the best in children.

These tools and tactics for nurturing self-esteem and self-reliance are for children of all ages struggling to find their sense of identity in the world. Practical and motivating, these tips assist parents, teachers and caregivers in presenting children with the opportunities to make their own decisions, learn from their mistakes, grow and develop and become responsible. In addition, there are helpful suggestions to encourage children to express themselves, understand themselves and others, relate to the world around them, and adapt to changes in their environment.

Chapters include dealing with punishment issues in ways that empower a child to learn from mistakes rather than humiliate or anger them, and also how praise can be used to help repair the damage of anger and hostility between parent and child. Teenage years may cause parents exceptional stress, and this book has some great ideas on how to better communicate with children, as well as how to encourage them to open up and express their fears and emotions.

I also found so much of benefit in the chapter "Words Matter." When we parents can learn to speak to our children in ways that lift them up instead of put them down, we can see tremendous differences in their behavior and attitudes. The power of words to help or harm a child is in our hands, as the author points out.

Raising Happy Kids also helps re-educate parents in areas of taking control and authority in ways that will not intimidate a child, using discipline to help rather than harm, increase parental self-esteem in order to set good examples for children, and the power of commitment towards the well-being of our kids. This is a must-have guide filled with usable tips, techniques and ideas for parents who truly want to raise happy, healthy and fulfilled children of all ages.