Little Girls Can Be Mean - by Michelle Anthony & Reyna Lindert (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Worried about mean girls? Help your daughter respond and react to bullying where it starts---in elementary school

As experts in developmental psychology and each a mother of three, Dr. Michelle Anthony and Dr. Reyna Lindert began noticing an alarming pattern of social struggle among girls as young as five, including their own daughters. In today's world, it is likely that your daughter has been faced with bullying and friendship issues, too---and perhaps you're at a loss for how to guide her through these situations effectively. Little Girls Can Be Mean is the first book to tackle the unique social struggles of elementary-aged girls, giving you the tools you need to help your daughter become stronger, happier, and better able to enjoy her friendships at school and beyond.

Dr. Anthony and Dr. Lindert offer an easy-to-follow, 4-step plan to help you become a problem-solving partner with your child, including tips and insights that girls can use on their own to confront social difficulties in an empowered way. Whether your daughter is just starting grade school or is already on her way to junior high, you'll learn how to:

OBSERVE the social situation with new eyes
CONNECT with your child in a new way
GUIDE your child with simple, compassionate strategies
SUPPORT your daughter to act more independently to face the social issue

By focusing squarely on the issues and needs of girls in the years before adolescence, Little Girls Can Be Mean is the essential, go-to guide for any parent or educator of girls in grades K-6.

Review Quotes

"More than ever, young girls are facing painful social challenges that require real skills to respond...offers useful strategies and tools to help parents empower their daughters from the earliest ages." --Rachel Simmons, bestselling author of Odd Girl Out and The Curse of the Good Girl

"A valuable guide for understanding and demystifying the friendship issues, social cruelty, and bullying of elementary-aged girls. A must-have book for parents, counselors, and educators." --Rosalind Wiseman, bestselling author of Queen Bees and Wannabes

"From clinical studies to mainstream media, the problem of girl aggression has been the subject of growing concern, but most of the recent focus has been on middle- and high-school students, not on elementary-school girls. That's part of the problem, argue the authors of this reassuring guide, which offers practical tips and personal anecdotes aimed at alleviating female "relational aggression" in the critical early grades. In each chapter, the authors, both developmental psychologists, illustrate how adults can guide girls through a four-step process to identify and deal with tough social situations. Throughout, boxed activities for educators, parents, and girls themselves give the tide a highly interactive, proactive feel, and an appended section suggests ways that adults can apply the same techniques to their own lives. More than just invaluable advice about preparing girls to cope with bullying, gossip, and friendship riffs, these are empowering strategies for adults to communicate and connect with their daughters while they are at a highly receptive age and to help them develop resilient self-esteem before they hit the middle-school jungle." --Booklist

About the Author

Dr. Michelle Anthony, an expert in developmental psychology, is mother to three young children, two girls and a boy. She is a certified K-3 teacher and president and cofounder of Wide-Eyed Learning, a company devoted to facilitating communication and learning between parents and children. She is also a columnist for Scholastic's Parent and Child magazine. Dr. Anthony holds a B.A. in Education from Brown University, an M.A. in child studies from Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from University of California at Berkeley. She lives in Centennial, Colorado.

Dr. Reyna Lindert, also an expert in developmental psychology, is mother to three young children, two girls and a boy. She is a certified parent educator and vice president and cofounder of Wide-Eyed Learning. She holds a B.S. in human development and family studies from Cornell University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in developmental psychology from University of California at Berkeley. She lives in Beaverton, Oregon.