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How to Talk When Kids Won't Listen

Whining, Fighting, Meltdowns, Defiance, and Other Challenges of Childhood

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About The Book

An all-new guide from the mega-bestselling How To Talk series applies trusted and effective communication strategies to the toughest challenges of raising children.

For forty years, readers have turned to Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish’s How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, the book The Boston Globe called, “the parenting Bible,” for a respectful and practical approach to communication with children. Expanding upon this work, Adele’s daughter, Joanna Faber, along with Julie King, coauthored the bestselling book, How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen. Now, Faber and King have tailored How To Talk’s tried and trusted communication strategies to some of the most challenging childhood moments.

From tantrums to technology to talking to kids about tough topics, How To Talk When Kids Won’t Listen offers concrete strategies for these and many more difficult situations.

Part One introduces readers to the How To Talk “toolbox,” with whimsical cartoons demonstrating the basic communication skills that will transform readers’ relationships with children in their lives. In Part Two, Joanna and Julie answer specific questions and share relatable stories, offering practical tools for addressing issues such as homework hassles, sibling battles, digital dilemmas, problems with punishment, and more. Readers can turn directly to any topic of interest and find the help they need, with handy “reminder pages.”

Through the combination of lively stories from real parents and teachers, humorous illustrations, and entertaining exercises, How To Talk When Kids Won’t Listen offers real solutions to struggles familiar to every parent, grandparent, teacher, and anyone else who lives or works with children.

About The Authors

Joanna Faber is the author, along with Julie King, of the book, How To Talk When Kids Won’t Listen, as well as the bestselling book How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen, which has been translated into 22 languages worldwide.  Joanna and Julie created the companion app, HOW TO TALK: Parenting Tips in Your Pocket, as well as the app Parenting Hero. Joanna also wrote a new afterword for the thirtieth anniversary edition of the classic book, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids WIl Talk, coauthored by her mother, Adele Faber. Joanna contributed heavily to her mother’s book, How to Talk So Kids Can Learn, at Home and in School, with her frontline experience in the classroom as a bilingual special education teacher in West Harlem. Joanna lectures and conducts workshops across the US and internationally for parents, educators, and other professionals who work with children. She and her husband raised three sons in the Hudson Valley region of New York, along with dogs, cats, and an assortment of chickens. Visit her at How-to-Talk.com. 

Julie King  is the author, along with Joanna Faber, of the book, How To Talk When Kids Won't Listen, as well as the bestselling book, How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen, which has been translated into 22 languages worldwide. Julie and Joanna created the companion app, HOW TO TALK: Parenting Tips in Your Pocket, as well as the app Parenting Hero. Julie has been educating and supporting parents since 1995. In addition to consulting with individual parents and couples, she speaks and leads workshops online and in-person for schools, nonprofits, businesses and parent groups across the US and internationally. Julie received her AB from Princeton University and a JD from Yale Law School. She lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay Area where they are visited often by their her three grown children. Visit her at JulieKing.org, on Facebook @FaberandKing, or on Instagram @howtotalk.forparents.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Scribner (August 3, 2021)
  • Length: 400 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781982134150

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Raves and Reviews

"Encouraging. . . . full of ideas worth returning to, this guide will leave parents feeling prepared." —Publishers Weekly

“Part of the bestselling 'How to Talk' series, this book is yet another winner. . . . an essential guide that’s easy to dip into as needed." BookPage

"Parents looking for a one-stop approach to parenting will find this book very helpful.” —Booklist

"Make room on your bookshelf or kitchen table! This is the book you’ll turn to when you're wondering 'What do I say now?' It will keep you laughing and learning, and it will help change your family dynamics from conflict to cooperation." —Adele Faber, co-author of How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk

"Joanna Faber and Julie King have hit another one out of the park. With their trademark humor, wisdom, empathy and down-to-earth techniques, they address the everyday struggles that take the joy out of family life, such as power struggles and outbursts of emotion (our children's outbursts and our own)." —Lawrence J. Cohen, PhD, author of Playful Parenting and The Opposite of Worry

"Joanna Faber and Julie King are experts in respectful communication with little kids. How to Talk When Kids Won’t Listen is a master class for parents to help kids through their difficult feelings and get kids to listen. I will be recommending this book for anyone who wants less conflict and more snuggles." —Hunter Clarke-Fields, author of Raising Good Humans

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