Series ✦ Penny’s Take 🎧 Audiobook
1-2-3 Magic : Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 (6th edition)
Thomas W. Phelan, PhD · 2016
🎙 Narrated by Paul Costanzo (Tantor Audio, published May 2016)
85/100
👍 Worth It
This is the parenting shelf's steady workhorse — a simple counting method refined across six editions and genuinely recommended by pediatricians and family therapists, not just marketed at them. It skips yelling, arguing, and spanking for something a tired parent can execute in the moment, and Paul Costanzo's clean, instructional narration is easy to follow along with while you're actually applying it. Worth it if you want a concrete technique over a parenting philosophy to sit with.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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🎙 Narration: good Paul Costanzo's straightforward, instructional delivery suits the practical how-to format well.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety95
Substance / usefulness85
Craft & writing80
Originality62
Evidence & accuracy88
Hype vs delivers68
Age-fit92
Human-eye read85
Penny’s verdict85
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