A Present to the Newborn

A Present to the Newborn is a book about parenting, written by Emily Hunter Slingluff. This book provides guidance about parenting, and was written especially for new parents. The book promotes a parenting style based on communication with children, even when very young. It suggests that parents should treat children as equals. It argues for absolute truthfulness in communicating with children. It also presents an argument that physical discipline, or even more subtle forms of punishment, compromise the parent-child relationship and harm the child. Interestingly, these concepts have parallels to the teachings of the Monks of New Skete on dog training, which include recommendations for praise instead of punishment in training and raising dogs as companions. There also are parallels with the writings of Stephen R. Covey, in his bestseller The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, in which he teaches that building productive relationships often takes time and dedication to the relationship, and that sometimes the most expedient action to manage a situation in the short term is much less effective in the long term than taking time to communicate with the co-worker or colleague and to build trust in in the relationship.
A Present to the Newborn: A Book for Parents and All Those Whose Lives Touch the Lives of Children was originally printed by Letton Gooch Printer, Inc. in Norfolk, VA, August 1987. It was printed four times; the fourth printing in October 1988 was by Acropolis Books, Ltd., in Washington, D.C. It has 32 short chapters that address numerous aspects of parenting in a brief readable format. The back cover of the book carries recommendations by Sandra Kaufman, Staff Research Associate, The Socio-Behavioral Group, UCLA; Laurie Winterberg, Mother's Center Coordinator of YWCA, South Hampton Roads, VA; and Rachel C. Hopkins, Director, Norfolk Academy Lower School. A Present to the Newborn is not currently in print but after its original publication, it was adopted by the public school system of Virginia Beach, who reprinted it as A Primer for Positive Parenting, and used that book to teach parenting skills to teen mothers. This book has had national impact over an extended time, being listed as a recommended text and as a source for teachers in courses on parenting taughted through the Unified Los Angeles School District in 1995 and 2006.
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