Only the format--a series of exercises and assignments, plus cartoons and various prose sections--distinguishes this parenting guide from its many predecessors: most strategies and ideas will be familiar to readers of Ginott, Gordon, or their disciples (indeed, Faber and Mazlish wrote Liberated Parents/Liberated Children after workshops with Ginott). Designed for use over a six-week period, the book incorporates many components of a parenting course--with mixed results. Its organization, with techniques for parents to practice and space for recording progress, may help parents structure their efforts to change their own and their children's behavior. Missing, of course, are the other people (and leaders) who typically provide the momentum of a workshop or class. And it's hard to role-play parent-child interactions alone. . . . The authors do suggest finding a compatible friend with whom to compare and discuss answers but, strangely, they don't mention joining forces with one's spouse, and nearly all examples concern one parent and a single child. Each week/chapter focuses on a single area (feelings, cooperation, alternatives to punishment, autonomy, praise, and freeing children from negative roles), with discussions of case studies (the usual supermarket misbehavior and wet-towels-in-the-hamper), paper and pencil exercises (often calling for responses that would not be helpful--an odd pedagogical practice, at best), cartoons of dos and don'ts (stiff and gratuitous), and glowing parents' stories (naturally the children always shape up when their parents accept negative feelings, state expectations clearly, use problem-solving techniques, and so on and on). An also-ran on every count. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.