Cornerstone Press acquires Dix’s ‘exceptional’ parenting guide

Cornerstone Press has acquired a parenting guide from Paul Dix, entitled When the Parents Change, Everything Changes.

Editorial director Rowan Borchers acquired world rights directly from the author. Cornerstone Press will publish in hardback, trade paperback, audiobook and e-book on 5th September 2023, with a Penguin paperback to follow in 2024.

The publisher describes Dix’s 2016 book introducing his method, When the Adults Change, Everything Changes, as a “word-of-mouth phenomenon” which has sold over 150,000 copies globally, and says that in his new book, Dix explains how parents too can use his method. “Your behaviour is the only behaviour over which you have absolute control,” he writes. “To change your children’s behaviour, you first need to change your own.”

Dix has spent the last 30 years turning around behaviour in Britain’s most challenging schools – first as a teacher, later as a teacher trainer and behaviour expert.

Drawing on all his experience in the classroom, and of raising two boys, Dix “shows how to build a culture of calm consistency into every home” and explains “how to maintain a sense of Zen-like serenity in the face of even the most chaotic behaviour, from school-gate screaming matches to mealtime "childmageddon".

Offering a set of simple strategies, the publisher says his “tried-and-tested method will change what your child does by first changing what you do. You will never need to raise your voice again".

Dix said: “Every parent wants the best for their child. Every parent wants their child to behave well. This book will show you how to achieve that without shame or tariffs or giant punishments.”

Borchers added: “When the Parents Change, Everything Changes is an exceptional book. It’s practical. It’s funny. It’s empathetic. And it is destined to become the go-to guide to children’s behaviour for years to come.”