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How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen  By  cover art

How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen

By: Joanna Faber, Julie King
Narrated by: Heather Alicia Simms, Michele Pawk, Candace Thaxton, January LaVoy, Rebekkah Ross, Gibson Frazier, Molly Pope
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Publisher's summary

A must-have resource for anyone who lives or works with young kids, with an introduction by Adele Faber, coauthor of the international best-seller The Boston Globe dubbed "The Parenting Bible".

For over 35 years, parents have turned to How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk for its respectful and effective solutions to the unending challenges of raising children. Now, in response to growing demand, Adele's daughter, Joanna Faber, along with Julie King, tailor How to Talk's powerful communication skills to children ages two to seven.

Faber and King, each a parenting expert in her own right, share their wisdom accumulated over years of conducting How To Talk workshops with parents and a broad variety of professionals. With a lively combination of storytelling, cartoons, and fly-on-the-wall discussions from their workshops, they provide concrete tools and tips that will transform your relationship with the young kids in your life.

What do you do with a little kid who...won't brush her teeth...screams in his car seat...pinches the baby...refuses to eat vegetables...runs rampant in the supermarket? Organized according to common challenges and conflicts, this book is an essential emergency first-aid manual of communication strategies, including a chapter that addresses the special needs of children with sensory processing and autism spectrum disorders.

This user-friendly guide will empower parents and caregivers to forge rewarding, joyful relationships with terrible two-year-olds, truculent three-year-olds, ferocious four-year-olds, foolhardy five-year-olds, self-centered six-year-olds, and the occasional semi-civilized seven-year-old. And, it will help little kids grow into self-reliant big kids who are cooperative and connected to their parents, teachers, siblings, and peers.

©2017 Joanna Faber and Julie King. All rights reserved. (P)2017 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Featured Article: The 10 Best Parenting Audiobooks


As many parents know all too well, there’s no official guide on how to raise your child. From all the ways you can show love and affection to the more difficult acts of helping them grow through discipline, each kid—and each family—is unique in what they need. A one-size-fits all approach doesn’t exist, which is why finding the advice and resources that best speak to you are so important. We’ve pooled together the top resources on parenting for all different styles and families, and parents looking for a wide breadth of advice.

What listeners say about How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen

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The message is great but the narration and writing style cringey

I love the message of this book and the way it is telling you to communicate etc, that is spot on and helpful

However the way this book is written is so cringey.
Constantly hearing “and the group replied back “
“And then the group”
“Insert a bunch of replies that sound so made up and straight out of a 80s sitcom over and over”


It just makes it SO hard to listen too. I hate it, I’ve stopped listening about 3 hours in.

The narrator voice also compounds this problem, I’m sorry to say.


Coming from listening to Laura Markhams audiobook really highlighted how hard this is to listen to or read.

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44 people found this helpful

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Changed my life

This book completely changed my perspective about how I should talk to my children. It radically changed what I say to my children. I have both the print and audio editions and really enjoyed listening to it so the parental voices became someone else's besides my own.

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31 people found this helpful

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I want to be just like the authors

These authors emphasize the importance of remembering what it's like to be a kid. Big takeaways for me were to acknowledge feelings, describe what I see, be playful, give choices, and describe their wish fantasies. I've used these tools--now my daughter is hopping into her pajamas and likes to be carried to bed upside down. Really resonated with me and made me re-think how I talk to my daughter. Thanks!

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24 people found this helpful

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Loved the book! Not so much some narration parts.

Any additional comments?

The person who narrates "Sarah" uses mutliple upward inflections in the wrong places and emphasizes parts of speech that shouldn't need it. It becomes so annoying that I began skipping her stories altogether. This is still a great listen/read and I would still recommend it to any parents with a toddler.

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21 people found this helpful

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Interesting, practical, useful.

Thank you for writing this! I recommend to any parent. Was extremely helpful. Already seen improvements and got me thinking about it scientifically again instead if just flabbergasted parent.

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20 people found this helpful

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A cloying, long-winded, pointless cash grab

The original "How to Talk" is a seminal classic. This book offers virtually nothing new, just a lot of blathering chatter to fill pages, delivered with a grating, nasal voice.

It feels like they're just milking the brand. Please, do yourself a favor and read the original - it's nothing short of life changing - and avoid this garbage.

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15 people found this helpful

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It works

Just by starting to acknowledge feelings there is a noticeable progress. I am happy the authors noticed the previous book was neglecting children in the age range.

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15 people found this helpful

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Did not like the narrator!

I own a paper copy of this book so I was excited to see that the narrated version was on Audible. However, the narrator of this book is terrible! She uses a very condescending and pretentious tone that negates the original authors purpose and meaning. I couldn’t even make it through the first chapter listening to her voice.

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12 people found this helpful

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Must read for parents of small kids!

Would you consider the audio edition of How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen to be better than the print version?

I loved this book. My only regret is that I didn't read it earlier. My daughter is 5 and I learned a lot still.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Love All the How to Talk Books

There were so many times when this book anticipated my "Yeah, but..." thoughts and doubts. Well written, fun to listen to, and lots of tools to practice using with my 3 boys all 7 and under.

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11 people found this helpful