ParentSmart Books<br > introduction to the series<br > arenting has been my passion ever since the day nay fil.-st<br > child was I~orn. This was， withoul doubt， an exhilarating and<br > exciting event. However， it didn l take long to realize that<br > with the birth of our child， we were taking on one of the most<br > important jobs in life - and one for which we hadn t taken a training<br > ~x~urse. Furthernaore， the baby didn t come with an instruction manual!<br > Now， my children have grown into happy， successflal young adults<br > and although my job is educational publishing， I have always<br > considered parenting to be my most satis .lying career. About foul"<br > years ago， it occurred to me that l could combine my passion for<br > p~ronting with my publishing experience. The idea was to produce<br > a series of books designed to give new parents the very help and<br > guidance I was looking for as a new parent. To develop the content，<br > 1four of the world s leading parenting authorities were recruited to<br > join me in establishing The International Advisory Council on Parenting.<br > The mombors are; Penelope Leach， Ph，D.， Otto Weiningel， Ph.D.，<br > William Sears， M，D. and Martha Sears， R.N. The result of our<br >~ombinod efforts is the ParentSmuarl book series.<br >D~il~ die daily challenges faced by parents， there is probably<br >，，tin jeb |n，t]~ world that matches parenting in terms of personal<br >fill~meat and truly wonderful fringe benefits.<br >P&re.~s who am properly prepared with the right tools and skills<br >~ill ~v~ less ~trces and are likely to be more effective. That s why<br >~ ~[l book in the Pat~ntt$1n~rt book series deals with one particular<br >NI!~~I ~fpar~ting， Takgn togethel; the first six books in the series<br >r_，onllzll~e to provide a virtual "Parenting 101" course.<br >