Building a family-centered practice in early childhood education is more than bullying some hapless soul into bringing snacks or filling in at storytelling time. Keyser uses both her academic and practical skills in advising administrators and teachers on how to involve parents in every aspect of their children"s first experiences with learning, and gives ideas that can work in a variety of familial and cultural settings. She focuses on effective daily communications with families, challenges which may affect the child at home or at school, ways of resolving conflicts, creating efficient documentation and effective conferences, creating successful parent meetings and events as well as parent-friendly classrooms, developing curriculum for family-centered classrooms and helping parents become teaching partners who feel welcome. Keyser gives sample conversations and plenty of ideas on activities and ways to communicate through newsletters, bulletin boards, and family-to-family support networks. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)