The goal of this book is to help parents who cannot understand their child. Why does he cry all the time? Why does she refuse to go to sleep? Why does he say “no” to everything? Why doesn't she tidy her room?
The author suggests ways of communicating with children in a variety of situations. How should you announce the arrival of a new sibling in the family? How should a child be told that his or her parents are separating? How should a grandparent's death be explained?
Each one of the book's forty short chapters deals with a specific, often difficult, situation: tantrums and whims, lying, moodiness, etc.
Parents will be able to consult this indispensable guide during the various stages of their child's development: childhood (0-5 years), latency (6-11) and adolescence (12-18).

A psychiatrist specialising in the family, Antoine Alaméda is the director of the child-and-adolescent psychiatry ward at the Hospital of Toulon-La-Seyne-sur-Mer. He is the author of Les Sept Péchés capitaux.