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Children bring boundless joy into your life. They also bring temper tantrums, stubborn moods, and 90-decibel fits of hysterical screaming. Think we’re exaggerating? Just try getting one to finish his dinner.

It’s time to spare the aggravation and take some action. How to Con Your Kid shows how parents can con their toddlers to do anything-and we mean anything. Want your kid to try broccoli? Serve her a plate of “baby trees.” Want her to take a bath? Put on a bathing suit and go “swimming” together.

From simple “short cons” to more elaborate, step-by-step scams, How to Con Your Kid features tricks and tips for the home, travel, school, daycare, and more.

Get your kid to help with chores by naming him “Mom’s Special Assistant.”
Get your kid moving by racing her to the corner.
Get your kid to share by suggesting he trade instead.

Plus, for those rare moments when everything fails, we’ve included two sheets of “bribe stickers”-guaranteed to transform the most terrible toddler into a well-behaved angel.

DAVID BORGENICHT, coauthor of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series, has two kids. He lives in Philadelphia.

JAMES GRACE, coauthor of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Golf, is the father of three young children. He lives outside Boston.

When she was my mom
she said no sweets before lunch.
Hypocrite grandma.

This collection of irreverent haiku explores the reality of modern motherhood-complete with dirty diapers, spilled Spaghetti-O’s, obnoxious purple dinosaurs, carseats, strollers, choking hazards, and more.

It’s the perfect gift for new moms with young children at home-a book that can be picked up for a minute and then put down to wipe a nose or settle an argument, all while making Mom laugh.

With more than 100 haiku and 40 whimsical illustrations, Haiku Mama is a collection of verse that all mothers (and their family and friends) will love.

KARI ANNE ROY is the proprietor of haikuoftheday.com, a blog devoted to parenting haiku and commentary on the daily activities of a busy household. She lives in Austin, Texas.

When she was my mom
she said no sweets before lunch.
Hypocrite grandma.

This collection of irreverent haiku explores the reality of modern motherhood-complete with dirty diapers, spilled Spaghetti-O’s, obnoxious purple dinosaurs, carseats, strollers, choking hazards, and more.

It’s the perfect gift for new moms with young children at home-a book that can be picked up for a minute and then put down to wipe a nose or settle an argument, all while making Mom laugh.

With more than 100 haiku and 40 whimsical illustrations, Haiku Mama is a collection of verse that all mothers (and their family and friends) will love.

KARI ANNE ROY is the proprietor of haikuoftheday.com, a blog devoted to parenting haiku and commentary on the daily activities of a busy household. She lives in Austin, Texas.

DadLabs Guide to Fatherhood — So the baby’s butt is redder than a baboon’s and he’s screaming like a crazed hockey fan. What’s a new father supposed to do? Since 2007, more than 2 million men have turned to DadLabs for the answers. Home to the Internet’s finest weekly video program about modern fatherhood, DadLabs.com is the brainchild of four regular guys in Austin, Texas, and now they’ve compiled the best of their advice into a book. In DadLabs Guide to Fatherhood, readers will learn:

– How to keep the baby alive until the wife gets home
– That washing bottles will not make your balls fall off
– Things not to say during birthing (”You’re sure it’s mine, right?”)
– Top-secret delivery room tips (No. 1: Bring change for the snack machine)
– Why sex is overrated (and other lies fathers tell themselves)
– Why other parents’ children are inferior to yours

Full of guy-friendly advice, DadLabs Guide to Fatherhood proves that being a man with a sense of humor and being a skillful parent are not mutually exclusive.

With decades of experience and nine children to show for it, dads Clay Nichols, Brad Powell, Troy Lanier, and Owen Egerton are the founders, writers, producers, and stars of DadLabs.com. They make their homes in beautiful Austin, Texas.

Bookshelves abound with activity books for babies and toddlers, but The Rookie Mom’s Handbook is the first designed exclusively for first-time mothers. Here are 250 enjoyable activities to help rookie moms maintain their individuality and boost their confidence about leaving the house, socializing, and doing things they’ve always liked to do-either with or without baby.

Inspired by the popular Web site www.rookiemoms.com, the book offers bite-sized activities arranged according to the baby’s age. Some are crafty, some are adventurous, and some simply help get a meal on the table.

Written in a lively, supportive tone and decorated with cute illustrations, The Rookie Mom’s Handbook is the perfect gift or resource to remind new moms that there’s more to life than dirty diapers and 3 a.m. feedings.

HEATHER GIBBS FLETT is an Internet consultant and a contributor to Babycenter.com’s print magazines. WHITNEY MOSS worked in the marketing department of LeapFrog Toys for more than six years and has written about baby outings for the San Francisco Chronicle. Both Heather and Whitney have small children and live in Berkeley, California.

Babies are the courageous explorers of brave new worlds–so why not name them after the most memorable characters in science fiction? Sci-Fi Baby Names compiles more than 500 distinctive names from movies, books, and television shows into a handy illustrated reference. Choose “James” to honor the captain of the starship Enterprise. Choose “Leia” (or Leah) to honor the sister of Luke Skywalker. Choose “Neo” to salute the ultra-cool messiah from The Matrix. Hardcore fans can go even further with exotic names like “Barbarella,” “Beldar,” and “Tron” (just don’t send us the therapy bills).

Arranged by category for quick reference–with chapters such as Power Names, Feminine Names, and Intellectual Names–Sci-Fi Baby Names is a terrific gift for expecting parents and a wonderful roll call of our favorite science-fiction characters.

ROBERT SCHNAKENBERG loves science fiction so much, he wrote an entire book about William Shatner: The Encyclopedia Shatnerica. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.