As one year ends and we prepare for the year ahead, a new year means a chance for new beginnings. And one way to lay the groundwork for being a better you is by planning your new year’s resolutions! If you haven’t started brainstorming yet, let us help! Get some ideas for what to accomplish in the upcoming year as well as some great books for inspiration and guidance.
Growing older does not mean accepting diminished fitness. In Age-Defying Fitness, two of the nations top physical therapists, Marilyn Moffat and Carole B. Lewis, explain how to overcome aches, stiffness, and unsteadiness in muscles and joints and pursue an easy everyday approach to achieving better health.
It should be common knowledge that we benefit greatly from being outdoors and surrounding ourselves with the natural world, but it can be challenging to find the time. Don’t let that deter you from soaking up all the goodness that nature can offer! We can learn a lot from our surroundings and the other beautiful creatures that inhabit it. Just take The King of Bees as an example. When we befriend our fellow living beings and take care of them, we are also learning more about them and helping take care of ourselves. Don’t forget to appreciate and tend to the natural world around you to discover all the wonder and beauty it beholds!
It is frustrating to fail at something―we’ve all been there. But we will never succeed if we just give up. If something is worth pursuing, it’s worth fighting for. Use Izzy Gizmo for inspiration! Just like Grandpa tells Izzy Gizmo, “Sometimes you need to try again and again if you want to succeed.” No matter how many times you try and fail, if you do what is needed and don’t give up, the success you’ll achieve will be that much sweeter.
Sometimes for children and adults alike, it can be difficult to pinpoint what our strengths are, especially if our weaknesses are more noticeable. It becomes particularly painful if bullying comes into play. But as Melissa Stewart in Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs reminds us: what others may see as a weakness might actually be your strength. We are who we are for a reason, and it makes us each unique and equally beautiful. Part of personal growth is understanding and embracing the parts of you that make you you.
No parent is perfect, but it never hurts to look for ways to be a better parent. This collection of essays, What Works with Children, features advice for parents from forty professionals who have worked with children for at least twenty-five years. What emerges from these essays is the powerful message that a lifetime with children changes and challenges our ideas of what is of real importance―and what is not.
*The authors and editors of this book are proud to donate their royalties to Save the Children.
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