Press Release 

For Immediate Release
Contact: Adrienne Biggs
(415) 782 3213 or abiggs@jbp.com

The Book All Parents Need to Raise Decent Kids
Timely New Book Offers Complete Step-by-step Plan for Helping Kids Act Morally

"Provides a much-needed antidote to the waves of incivility, intolerance, and insensitivity sweeping through our nation’s youth culture. Dr. Michele Borba offers parents a treasure trove of ideas for building the most neglected intelligence around: our kids’ moral intelligence. I’d like to see a copy of this book in every home across America." - Thomas Armstrong, author, 7 Kinds of Smart, and Awakening Your Child’s Natural Genius

Palm Springs, CA. (July 2001). At a time when parents, educators, politicians, and policymakers are searching for new ways to fight the apparent indifference to right and wrong among young people, noted educator Dr. Michele Borba has created a new breakthrough in conceptualizing and teaching virtue, character, and values under the auspices of measurable capacity—Moral Intelligence.

Without relying on didactic theory, sermonizing, or abstract philosophy, Dr. Borba offers a new way to understand, evaluate, and inspire our kids with the seven essential virtues that comprise moral intelligence: empathy, conscience, self control, respect, kindness, tolerance, and fairness. Building Moral Intelligence gives parents and teachers practical self-tests for measuring their kids’ status and progress and includes helpful step-by-step guidelines. The book is also filled with wonderful activities for adults and children to do together while learning the challenges and blessings of moral intelligence. These detailed, hands-on activities include a range of projects that will appeal to kids from three to fifteen. For example, parents can teach lessons about conflict resolution to their preschool kids and social justice to their teens. Also included are a handy book discussion guide and recommendations for hundreds of books and videos that can boost a child’s Moral IQ.

This indispensable book confronts head-on the widely feared crisis our society faces regarding youth violence, intolerance, lack of compassion, and the breakdown of values—and motivates and inspires parents to make that extra effort to teach their kids what’s right.

The Seven Essential Virtues of Moral Intelligence that Help Kids Do What’s Right
Using this book as a guide, parents can teach their children the virtues they must have if they are to overcome negative pressures and act morallyæwith or without an adult's guidance.

• Empathy—Understanding and feeling other people’s concerns
• Conscience—Knowing the right way to act and acting in that way
• Self-Control—Regulating your thoughts and actions so you act right
• Respect—Showing you value others by treating them with consideration
• Kindness—Demonstrating concern about the welfare of others
• Tolerance—Respecting the dignity and rights of all persons
• Fairness—Choosing to be open minded and to act in a just way
  

Sample Reviews of Building Moral Intelligence
“No parenting book I know of offers so many practical insights, workable strategies, and inspiring stories, books, videos, and other family-friendly resources for intentionally teaching these crucial character strengths.”
- from the foreword by Thomas Lickona, author, Raising Good Children

“If you care about the future of our children and our nation, read this important book! Perfectly balancing cutting-edge research with practical strategies, engaging anecdotes and wise insights, Michele Borba shows us how to do what really matters most—to help our kids become good and caring human beings.”
- Jack Canfield, coauthor, Chicken Soup for the Parent’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul, and Chicken Soup for the Father’s Soul

“A brilliant book to prevent violence from the inside with moral values that would make cruel, selfish and destructive behavior unthinkable options for kids.”
- Jane Bluestein, author, Creating Emotionally Safe Schools and Parents, Teens and Boundaries: How to Draw the Line
ISBN 0-7879-5357-1

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About the Author: Michele Borba, Ed.D. a former classroom teacher, is an internationally renowned consultant and educator who has presented workshops to over half a million participants. She is the recipient of the National Educator Award and the author of eighteen books including Parents Do Make A Difference (Jossey-Bass) which was named by Child Magazine as an "outstanding parenting book of the year." She is a frequent guest expert on television and National Public Ratio talk shows including The view, ABC Home Show, The Parent Table, and is quoted in numerous national publications. She lives in Palm Springs, California with her husband and three teenage sons. Information on her publications and seminars can be accessed through her Web site, www.moralintelligence.com.

© 2001 by Michele Borba. Please contact for permission to reprint.