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How about the "mad" dance? Or kneading
bread? Or defusing the stress with silliness. These are just a few
of the dozens of soothing and coping strategies described in
"Self-Calming Cards," a 36-card full-color deck just published by
Parenting Press. Created by
Elizabeth Crary and Mits Katayama, both of Seattle, these cards
include step-by-step instructions in English and Spanish for
introducing both the concept of self-calming and such calming
activities as blowing bubbles, stringing beads, singing, jumping
rope and soaking in a warm bath.
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"Self-Calming Cards," by Elizabeth Crary,
M.S.
"If You Can't Cope, You Need Crary's Cards" |
We all get angry sometimes. We all
get anxious or frustrated, too. But what do we do about these
feelings?
Some of us cope well -- and the rest
of us need Elizabeth Crary's new "Self-Calming Cards."
Based on Crary's more than 25 years
as a parent educator, this set of practical cards from Parenting
Press provides an introduction to emotional literacy. It helps both
adults and children understand the importance of identifying and
acknowledging emotions and of learning how to soothe yourself.
Like all of Crary's publications,
the "Self-Calming Cards" provide step-by-step help in the form of
coping and problem-solving tools, games, and exercises that parents
and teachers can use -- before disaster strikes -- to help children
manage their feelings.
The cards describe six different
ways to cope: with physical, auditory, visual, creative,
self-nurturing and humorous activities. In each of the six different
groups, there are four cards with charming illustrations of kids
demonstrating suggested coping techniques. The techniques are
sequenced, to make it easier for children to learn the coping skills
and to meet the needs of different age and ability levels. For
example, the creative activities include making something such as a
craft, writing a letter, drawing a picture and baking bread.
Even better, the card deck includes
games that teach basic concepts. "Stop the Story" introduces the
concept that kids can make choices. "Imagine That" teaches kids how
to practice skills through pretend situations. The more advanced
"Take Three" asks kids to observe how different activities affect
their feelings.
Not every self-calming strategy will
work in every situation.
"The key, however, is that we all
have choices," points out Crary.
This nonjudgmental approach is the
hallmark of a Parenting Press book: Crary doesn't tell anyone --
child or adult -- how to solve a problem. Nor does she let the other
authors at the Parenting Press dictate how issues should be
resolved.
"Our books are respectful," Crary
says. "Our goal is to help you identify what you want rather than
telling you what you should do."
Her mission has been a success:
Parenting Press Inc. has published more than 80 children's and
child-guidance books since its founding in 1979. In total, the press
has 2 million copies of its books in print. Consistently praised for
offering a sense of perspective, no-nonsense analysis and practical
suggestions that work in real life, Parenting Press books are so
carefully written and field-tested that they are standards on
bookstore shelves. Crary calls them "modern classics -- books you
can go back to again and again."
Best-selling books seem like a long
way from food poisoning, which is where Crary started her career. A
home economics graduate, she earned a master's degree in nutrition
and biochemistry before beginning work for the Food Research
Institute in Madison, Wis. But almost as soon as she finished
school, she was leading Girl Scout troops -- and researching
parenting so she was better prepared for her groups of pre-teen
girls.
After her son was born in 1971,
Crary found that her traditional home economics training -- and the
parenting classes she'd been taking -- helped with her own child
development questions. Conversations with other new parents resulted
in her leading parenting classes and support groups.
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this article]
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In 1976, the handouts she created
for parenting classes became the basis for a book. Eager to try out
its concepts, she field-tested the draft through a community college
parent education class. By 1979, "Without Spanking or Spoiling" was
ready for publication. Unwilling to give up control of the book
design and aware that she would be responsible for marketing the
book, regardless of who published it, Crary chose to self-publish
her guide. It was an instant success; less than a year later, every
one of the 5,000 copies was gone.
Today Crary still teaches parenting
education. She's a popular speaker at professional conferences and
on television and radio talk shows.
"Without
Spanking or Spoiling," revised and expanded a few years ago, has
171,000 copies in print. And the woman who claims she "hates" to
write has produced dozens of new books and card decks. Each one, as
you can imagine, is packed with problem-solving suggestions.
Detail
enriches emotional nuances in Katayama's illustrations of children
Mits Katayama started drawing as a
boy and now, seven decades later, he's still illustrating
publications like the new "Self-Calming Cards" available from
Parenting Press.
Detail, especially the detail that
creates nuances in emotional situations, continues to fascinate
Katayama. It is such an important part of his work, he says, that he
adds the clenched teeth, crossed eyes and dozing smile almost
automatically -- he simply doesn't create emotionless
characters.
Besides the facial expressions and
body language that Katayama portrays, even his smallest images are
rich with evocative detail: the child rocking in his chair at the table, the
puppy and kitten nosing each other, the scowling self-portrait a
girl is crayoning. But each image is evoked with nothing more than a
few simple lines and bright colors.
Encouraged by his immigrant parents
and a teacher in his three-room elementary school, Katayama has
spent his entire career with pencil or paintbrush in hand. When he
went into the U.S. Army Signal Corps, he was a radio operator -- but
found that his background got him volunteered for such jobs as
painting rooms and names on helmets!
Reared in Pacific, Wash., a truck
farming neighborhood south of Seattle, and then in Sumner, in Pierce
County, Wash., Katayama has spent his entire life in the Northwest.
Like many of Japanese heritage, he was interred during World War II
-- in his case, at the Minidoka Relocation Center near Twin Falls,
Idaho. After three years there and a short post-interment stay in
Nyssa, Ore., he was able to return to the Seattle area.
A graduate of the Edison Technical
School, now Seattle Central Community College, Katayama started out
in the late 1940s as what was then called a commercial artist.
In that era preceding
computer-generated type and art, Katayama created illustrations and
lettered text that filled print advertising, point-of-purchase
displays, brochures and other marketing materials. For decades he
has also designed logos and illustrated books, magazines and
catalogs. He was described in the Graphic Artists Guild history as
"one of the hottest illustrators in Seattle" in the post-war era.
Besides the "Self-Calming Cards,"
written by Elizabeth Crary, and a children's picture book written by
Eileen Kennedy-Moore and to be published in spring 2005, Katayama
has illustrated such Parenting Press publications as the "Feelings
for Little Children Series," where children and their pets grin,
grimace and dance through happiness, anger, shyness and silliness;
"Help! The Kids Are at It Again: Using Kids' Quarrels to Teach
‘People’ Skills"; and the "PEP Talk" quarterly for parent educators.
He and his wife are the parents of
three and the grandparents of one.
You can find other helpful child
rearing and teaching books and tips at
Parenting Press.
For ordering instructions go to
"Self-Calming
Cards" on the Parenting Press website and click on "Add to
shopping cart."
The cards, listed at $12.95, may be
purchased by ordering ISBN 1-884734-67-7 at (800) 992-6657 or
www.ParentingPress.com.
[News release] |
