Nanny Wisdom

Every parent can follow, including: Invaluable advice on the first year of your baby's life, Time-tested techniques for establishing regular sleeping and eating schedules, Effective methods for instilling good manners and a sense of responsibility, Creative ideas for playtime and parties, Helpful suggestions for preparing your child for preschool, More than 50 recipes and cooking tips for kid-friendly meals. Book jacket.

Nanny know best

The English nanny is an institution. The image of the smartly uniformed, traditional nanny features in many books and films and there is something rather comforting about the idea of a 'no nonsense', nurturing and sensible childcare expert looking after your family. For over a century, Norland Nannies have cared for royal and celebrity families and are the best, most respected nannies in the world. Now their clear advice and straightforward methods - tried and tested on thousands of families - are brought together for the first time. Nanny in a Book is a practical companion to childcare that will help you with: * Setting up your nursery * Sleeping, weaning and potty training * Teaching your child good manners and behaviour * Nursing common ailments from sore tummies to measles * Organising a fabulous birthday party. Full of Nanny's top tips and personal stories, Nanny in a Book will become a trusted guide and a treasured companion - the next best thing to Mary Poppins herself sweeping in on the East wind and turning up on your doorstep.

CBS-TV's The Nanny is one of TV's biggest hit comedies. As a result, the show's star, comedian Fran Drescher, has become one of today's hottest new TV personalities. In this book readers will enjoy smart, snappy Nannyisms on everything from men, mothers, shopping, big hair and beauty to dating, school, raising kids, vacations and food.

An extraordinary account - from firsthand sources - of upper class women and the active part they took in the War Pre-war debutantes were members of the most protected, not to say isolated, stratum of 20th-century society: the young (17-20) unmarried daughters of the British upper classes. For most of them, the war changed all that for ever. It meant independence and the shock of the new, and daily exposure to customs and attitudes that must have seemed completely alien to them. For many, the almost military regime of an upper class childhood meant they were well suited for the no-nonsense approach needed in wartime. This book records the extraordinary diversity of challenges, shocks and responsibilities they faced - as chauffeurs, couriers, ambulance-drivers, nurses, pilots, spies, decoders, factory workers, farmers, land girls, as well as in the Women's Services. How much did class barriers really come down? Did they stick with their own sort? And what about fun and love in wartime - did love cross the class barriers?

Brenda Ashford was a real-life Mary Poppins. Caring for over one hundred children during her lifetime as a nanny, her charges ranged from the pampered sons and daughters of grand estates or the tough offspring of WWII evacuees in London’s East End. Now, in A Spoonful of Sugar, Britain’s longest-serving nanny shares her endearing, amusing, and sometimes downright bizarre experiences turning generations of children into successful adults. Nanny Brenda says: “All mothers are quite brilliant in my eyes and nine times out of ten don’t realize the sacrifices they undertake or the powerful contributions they make.” “Little folk deserve a childhood that’s full of fun. It’s the single most valuable lesson in my eyes.” “Everyone knows you simply can’t retire from love. Children leave you; you don’t leave children. That’s the natural order of things.” “I have puzzled many times over the ingredients for a perfect recipe for a happy home. It needs to be a place with parents who worship their offspring. Throw in some stability, a dash of routine, and respect.”

The subject of the Academy Award–winning documentary The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Alice Herz-Sommer was the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor when she died on February 23, 2014. A Century of Wisdom is the true story of her life—an inspiring story of resilience and the power of optimism. Before her death at 110, the pianist Alice Herz-Sommer was an eyewitness to the entire last century and the first decade of this one. She had seen it all, surviving the Theresienstadt concentration camp, attending the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, and along the way coming into contact with some of the most fascinating historical figures of our time. As a child in Prague, she spent weekends and holidays in the company of Franz Kafka (whom she knew as “Uncle Franz”), and Gustav Mahler, Sigmund Freud, and Rainer Maria Rilke were friendly with her mother. When Alice moved to Israel after the war, Golda Meir attended her house concerts, as did Arthur Rubinstein, Leonard Bernstein, and Isaac Stern. Until the end of her life Alice, who lived in London, practiced piano for hours every day. Despite her imprisonment in Theresienstadt and the murders of her mother, husband, and friends by the Nazis, and much later the premature death of her son, Alice was victorious in her ability to live a life without bitterness. She credited music as the key to her survival, as well as her ability to acknowledge the humanity in each person, even her enemies. A Century of Wisdom is the remarkable and inspiring story of one woman’s lifelong determination—in the face of some of the worst evils known to man—to find goodness in life. It is a testament to the bonds of friendship, the power of music, and the importance of leading a life of material simplicity, intellectual curiosity, and never-ending optimism. Praise for A Century of Wisdom “An instruction manual for a life well lived.”—The Wall Street Journal “As if her 108 years of experience alone were not enough to coax you, there is the overarching fact that draws people to Herz-Sommer’s story: She survived the Theresienstadt concentration camp and is believed to be the oldest living Holocaust survivor.”—The Washington Post “I have rarely read a Holocaust survivor’s memoir as enriching and meaningful. Get Caroline Stoessinger’s book, A Century of Wisdom, telling Alice Herz-Sommer’s tale of her struggles and triumphs. You will feel rewarded.”—Elie Wiesel “A Century of Wisdom is a stately and elegant book about an artist who found deliverance in her passion for music. Caroline Stoessinger writes with a special purity, as though she were arranging pearls on a string of silk.”—Pat Conroy “As one of millions who fell in love on YouTube with Alice Herz-Sommer, a 108-year-old Holocaust survivor who plays the piano and greets each day with no hint of bitterness, I’m grateful to Caroline Stoessinger for writing a book that explains this mystery. You will be inspired by the story of Alice Herz-Sommer, who lives to teach us.”—Gloria Steinem “I walked on the cobblestones in Prague for thirty years wondering who might have walked on them before me: Kafka, Freud, Mahler. It feels like a miracle to have encountered, in Caroline Stoessinger’s wonderful book, Alice Herz-Sommer, who walked with them all—with a heart full of music.”—Peter Sis “A Century of Wisdom is universal and will enrich readers for generations to come.”—Itzhak Perlman

Grandma’s Poetry Book charts the nostalgic journey from birth to teens as seen through the eyes of a grandmother. It captures the many facets of those fleeting, easily forgotten moments as the grandchildren grow. Touching and funny in turn, the poems resonate with a grandmother’s love for her grandchildren. Inspired by A A Milne and the bouncy verse of Pam Ayres, Grandma’s Poetry Book was inspired by the birth of Di Castle’s first grandchild. It has been illustrated by Denise Horn – whose sketches capture the special bond between grandparents and their families. Praise for Grandma’s Poetry Book 'With gentle humour and self-effacing honesty, Di Castle charts the progress of Nanny-hood from the life-changing first phone call to the grandchild’s teens. Sparing no blushes, these affectionate rhymes record the incidents and stages that all grandparents will recognise.’ – Adrienne Dines, author of Toppling Miss April 'The collection is both inspiring and intriguing, accompanied by delightful illustrations.’ – Roderick Grant, author of Clap Hands For the Singing Molecatcher and Stathalder