How To Succeed as a Parent: 10 Survival Tips for Busy Mums and Dads, by Steve Chalke (Hodder & Stoughton, £5.99 in UK)

Child-care books used to be written with the express aim of getting you through that first nightmare six weeks without dropping a bawling infant on its head or convincing yourself that every bout of hiccups is potentially lethal. Now that the emphasis has shifted to creating better people, we obviously need a whole new generation of "how to" books, and for little over a fiver this one will fill your life with such aspirations; as: "Be the kind of person you want your children to become and "Work out four positive family rules you'd want your home to run by". Nauseatingly reasonable, this is just the book to have handy when your house erupts into a war zone; instead of merely counting to 10, lock yourself in the loo, study chapter eight ("Be Prepared ) and don't come out until the last hiccup has faded into silence.