HOW CHILDREN RAISE PARENTS

Allender's earnest diatribe intends to help parents understand, relate to, and empathize with their kids. It succeeds only about 40% of the time, for the author's tendency to warn, preach, and coat parenting with saccharin will lose all but the most devoted listener. When he describes his own parenting problems in the Allender household, it's like a suffocatingly self-righteous episode of "The Brady Bunch." If you're looking for parenting guidance, you might want to dust off good old Dr. Spock, or better still, Dr. Seuss. D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]