Renowned speaker, parenting expert, and New York Times best-selling author of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee, Dr. Wendy Mogel offers an essential guide to the new art of talking to children and shows how a change in voice can transform conversations and ease the relationship between parents and children.

Dr. Wendy Mogel’s New York Times best seller, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee is the bedside bible for a generation of parents. Several years ago Mogel began giving “voice lessons” to parents who were struggling with their kids, demonstrating how a shift in tone, tempo, and body language led to a surprising outcome: the children responded by cooperating with greater alacrity and communicating with more warmth, respect, and sincerity. As the parents found their voices, so did the children.  

In Voice Lessons, Mogel elaborates on this novel clinical approach, revealing how each age and stage of a child’s life brings new opportunities to connect through language. Delving into sources as diverse as neuroscience, fairy tales, and anthropology, Mogel offers specific guidance for talking to children across the expanse of childhood and adolescence. She also explains the best ways to talk about your child to grandparents, partners, and exes and to teachers, coaches, and caretakers. Throughout the book, Mogel addresses an obstacle that flummoxes even the most seasoned and confident parent: the distraction of digital devices, how they impact our connection with our families, and what we can do about it.  

With the transformative power of the classics How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk and You Just Don’t Understand, Voice Lessons enlightens parents. “Children will lead you on an incredible journey”, writes Mogel, “if they trust you, if you make the time, and if you are willing to follow.”