Most Popular Books by Harriet Brown

Have you ever wondered what really goes on at your child’s day-care center after you say good-bye? Harriet Brown did. To satisfy her curiosity, she spent an entire year observing Red Caboose, a center in Madison, Wisconsin. This engaging and thought-provoking book is the story of that year. In her beautifully written personal account, journalist and mother Brown takes us behind the scenes at a day-care center that works. At Red Caboose, one of the oldest independent centers in the country, we meet teachers who have worked with young children for more than twenty years. We watch the child-care union and parents struggle to negotiate a contract without ripping apart the fabric of trust and love that holds the Red Caboose community together. We look at the center’s finances, to see what keeps Red Caboose going at a time when other good centers are disappearing. Best of all, we get to know the children, families, and teachers of Red Caboose—their struggles, their sorrows, their triumphs. Started twenty-five years ago by a group of idealistic parents, the center has not only survived but thrived through some pretty tough times. In the world of day care, Red Caboose is a special place, a model for what child care in this country could and should be: not just babysitting, not just a service to working parents, but a benefit for children, families, teachers, and the community at large. Brown sets her rich and engaging stories in the greater political and social context of our time. Why is so much child care bad? Why should working Americans worry about the link between welfare reform and child care? What can we learn from the history of child care? This book is a must-read for parents, educators, and anyone who enjoys first-rate writing and dead-on insight into the lives of our youngest children and those who care for them. “[Brown’s] writing is beautiful and her scholarship sound. Students considering day-care careers, day-care professionals, and concerned parents will gain insight by reading this provocative book, as will anyone who cares about the future of young children in this country.”—Choice “I admire enormously the ambition of this book—its eagle-eyed witness and engrossing detail, plus the social importance of the project. I wish there were in the world more books like it.”—Lorrie Moore, author of Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? “The Good-bye Window is a fascinating peek into the secret world of children. With the poignancy of Anne LaMott, and the reportorial grace of Tracy Kidder, Harriet Brown has written a terrific and worthwhile book.”—Meg Wolitzer, author of This Is Your Life “Harriet Brown’s well-told story of the Red Caboose child-care center should be read by teachers and parents, but also by every legislator and politician in the land. Only a writer as good as Ms. Brown could display the dramatic complexities of a school community in which the youngest members enter crawling and emerge a few years later as articulate, empathetic, and well-socialized individuals, ready for the ‘real world.’”—Vivian Gussin Paley, author of The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter

I’ve never had anorexia, but I know it well. I see it on the street, in the gaunt and sunken face, the bony chest, the spindly arms of an emaciated woman. I’ve come to recognize the flat look of despair, the hopelessness that follows, inevitably, from years of starvation. I think: That could have been my daughter. It wasn’t. It’s not. If I have anything to say about it, it won’t be. In this emotionally resonant and compelling memoir, journalist and professor Harriet Brown takes readers—moment by moment, spoonful by spoonful—through her family’s experience with the nightmare of anorexia. A guiding light for anyone touched by this devastating disease, Brave Girl Eating is essential reading for families and professionals alike.

A riveting, provocative, and ultimately hopeful exploration of mother-daughter estrangement, woven with research and anecdotes, from an award-winning journalist. The day of her mother''s funeral, Harriet Brown was five thousand miles away. For years they''d gone through cycles of estrangement and connection, drastic blow-ups and equally dramatic reconciliations. By the time her mother died at seventy-six, they hadn''t spoken at all in several years. Her mother''s death sent Brown on a journey of exploration, one that considered guilt and trauma, rage and betrayal, and forgiveness. Shadow Daughter tackles a subject we rarely discuss as a culture. Family estrangements -- between parents and children, siblings, multiple generations -- are surprisingly common, and even families that aren''t officially estranged often have some experience of deep conflicts. Despite the fact that the issue touches most people one way or another, estrangement is still shrouded in secrecy, stigma, and shame. We simply don''t talk about it, and that silence can make an already difficult situation even harder. Brown tells her story with clear-eyed honesty and hard-won wisdom; she also shared interviews with others who are estranged, as well as the most recent research on this taboo topic. Ultimately, Shadow Daughter is a thoughtful, provocative, and deeply researched exploration of the ties that bind and break, forgiveness, reconciliation, and what family really means.

A science journalist''s provocative exploration of how biology, psychology, media, and culture come together to shape our ongoing obsession with our bodies, while also tackling the myths and realities of the "obesity epidemic."

In our appearance-obsessed society, eating is about much more than hunger and sustenance. Food inspires pleasure and anxiety, shame and obsession. We are constantly judged on how we look, so we’ve come to judge ourselves (and others) on what and how we eat. Joyce Maynard writes about learning to make pie with her complex but adored mother. Caroline Leavitt’s chilling piece describes the overlap between power and eating. Ophira Edut explains how an outspoken “body outlaw” wound up on Jenny Craig. Diana Abu-Jaber writes about abandoning her Bedouin customs for America’s silverware and table manners–and missing the physical, hands-on connection with food. Exploring the bonds between appetite and remorse, hunger and longing, satisfaction and desire, this anthology is for every woman who’s ever felt guilty about eating dessert, or gushed over a friend’s weight loss, or wished she had a different body. Feed Me! features the following essays: “He Called Me Fat; It Set Me Free” by Sari Botton “The Grief Diety” by Caroline Leavitt “With Hands” by Diana Abu-Jaber “Seconds” by Jenny Allen “My Worst Excess” by Amity Gaige “Sisi, You’re Getting Fat” by Courtney E. Martin “My Ten Plagues” by Harriet Brown “Top Model” by Magali Amadei “Reader, I Ate Him” by Brenda Copeland “The Twin Paradox” by Susan O’Doherty “Attack of the XL Girl” by Laurie Notaro “Sugar Plum Fairy” by Dana Kinstler “Sky Girl” by Ann Hood “Plus What?” by Lisa Romeo “Ess, Ess” by Rochelle Jewel Shapiro “In the House of Jean Nidetch” by Whitney Otto “You’re Not Fat” by Kate Harding “My Binge Year” by Jane E. Brody “Day One” by Wendy McClure “Quacks” by Kathi Kamen Goldmark “Battle of the Bulge: Notes from a Decade of Body Activism” by Ophira Edut “Take this Cake and Shove it” by Joan Fischer “Pie” by Joyce Maynard

The recent introduction of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation in the field of taxation 6 (DAC6) and mandatory disclosure regimes by many jurisdictions have led to a large number of professionals potentially being required to disclose information in relation to their clients’ arrangements. The authors analyse the operation of the various automatic exchange of information regimes which have been introduced in the last five years including the OECD common reporting standards DAC6 and MDR. They set them in their historical context as well as giving a technical analysis of the regimes. They focus on the guidance offered by the Irish and UK tax authorities with reference to other guidance in Europe and beyond, where appropriate.

Practical advice is offered to babysitters, covering such basic topics as feeding, crying, keeping children amused, first aid, bedtime and more. Illustrations.

''Hallmarks of History'' is an illustrated series that takes a key period in history and brings it to life. Each title examines incidents and personalities that were important at that time. A date chart puts the story in the context of world history.

In 1934, Kit Kittredge wins a railroad trip to Glacier National Park in Montana and meets a lot of new friends along the way.

Through photographs, illustrations, and both factual and fictionalized anecdotes, shows what life was like in the United States during the Depression, including major historical events to the details of everyday life.

»Dies ist die Geschichte eines ganz normalen Teenagers, der in die Klauen der Magersucht gerät – zufällig, wie das immer passiert – und ihres langsamen, schmerzhaften, unendlich tapferen Weges zurück ins Licht, zu Gesundheit und Hoffnung: Schritt für Schritt, Gramm für Gramm, ein Löffel nach dem anderen.« Harriet Brown Millionen Familien sind von Magersucht betroffen, doch oft binden Ärzte den Familien die Hände, wenn es um die Heilung der Kinder geht. Die Autorin und ihr Mann wagen es, das Mädchen – entgegen der gängigen Lehrmeinung – mit Hilfe zweier Ärztinnen zu Hause zu behandeln. Durch die Nähe der Familie erhält der Leser ungewöhnliche Einblicke in das Innenleben der Tochter und wohnt dem Kampf um ihr Leben hautnah bei. Ein bewegendes Buch, das tiefe Einblicke in die Krankheit und wichtige Informationen über Therapiemöglichkeiten gibt und das betroffenen Familien Mut macht.

The companion teacher’s guide to They Came from Wisconsin offers educators in every setting—classroom, library, and at home—vocabulary lists, objectives, skills, strategies, standards-based activities, and dozens of blackline masters for worksheets and handouts. Engages students in hands-on exploration of the immigration theme. Distributed for the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.