Rest Play Grow
Making Sense of Preschoolers
(Or Anyone Who Acts Like One)
Based on the work of one of the world’s foremost child development experts, Dr. Deborah MacNamara’s Rest, Play, Grow offers a road map to making sense of young children, and is what every toddler, preschooler, and kindergartener wished we understood about them.
Baffling and beloved, with the capacity to go from joy to frustration in seconds, young children are some of the most misunderstood people on the planet. Parents and caregivers struggle with these little ones, who are known for their extreme behaviour, from tantrums, resistance, and aggression to separation anxiety, bedtime protests, and not listening. The key to understanding youngsters lies in realizing that their challenging behaviour is not personal, nor is it a disorder or deficit.
Based on science and the relational developmental approach of renowned psychologist and bestselling author Gordon Neufeld, Rest, Play, Grow reveals how adults have a critical role to play in creating the conditions for young children to flourish. This is the story of how young children develop, from their intense need for attachment and the vital importance of play to discipline that preserves growth. Engagingly written, with compassion for its subjects and rich with stories from them and their parents, Rest, Play, Grow will forever change the way you think of the preschoolers in your life.
“This book is a tribute to not only Deborah’s giftedness but also to her absolute driving conviction that the insights regarding relationship and development must get out to those who are responsible for raising our youngsters… Deborah is wonderfully positioned to tell you this story, taking you from theory to practice. You could not be in better hands.”
- Gordon Neufeld, PhD
Founder, Neufeld Institute
Co-author, Hold On To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers
“Basing her approach in attachment theory and the groundbreaking work of Dr. Gordon Neufeld, Deborah MacNamara has written as essential primer on how to be a parent by making sense of the inner world of children. This book is developmental science translated into practical love.”
- Gabor Maté, M.D.
International best-selling author of Scattered Minds
Co-author, Hold On To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers
“Deborah MacNamara’s book is rich with insights into both the nature of the child and positive parenting. A boon to parents and teachers, Rest, Play, Grow notes the preeminence of early parent-child attachment in optimal development, and it passionately affirms the primary value of play to children’s well being and creativity. Dr. MacNamara is highly attuned to both children’s needs and parental best practices. Read, reflect, share.”
- Raffi Cavoukian, CM, OBC
Singer, author, founder of Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring
About the Author
Dr. Deborah MacNamara is a Clinical Counsellor and Developmentalist, on Faculty at the Neufeld Institute and Director of Kid’s Best Bet, a counselling centre for families. She is author of the best selling book Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (or anyone who acts like one), which has been translated into 9 languages (French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, German, Danish, Estonian, Korean, and Mandarin) and is available in audiobook. Rest, Play, Grow makes sense of young children through developmental science and is what every child wished their adults understood about them. Her first children’s picture book, The Sorry Plane, illustrated by Zoe Si, is available in English and soon to be Russian. The Sorry Plane is about respecting the feelings of children and supporting their emotional development.
Deborah is a dynamic teacher and experienced counsellor who makes developmental science come to life in the everyday context of home and classroom, including complex behavioural and learning problems.
Deborah travels nationally and internationally, speaking to child and adolescent development issues to groups including the United Nations and the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education. She regularly presents to parents, educators, child care professionals, social workers, the foster and adopt community, and health care professionals, sharing her insight and passion for making sense of kids. She is a developmentalist at heart who is continually fascinated by the mysteries and beauty inherent in human maturation.
Deborah completed a two-year post doctoral internship with Dr. Gordon Neufeld, is an award winning researcher, and has over 20 years experience as a teacher and counsellor working with leading institutions such as the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the Vancouver School Board. Deborah regularly appears on radio and TV, her articles appear in parenting magazines, websites, and newsletters across Canada and internationally. She resides in Vancouver British Columbia with her family and consciously works to create an attachment village for her children to grow up in.