Books: "Food Fight"; "The Woods"

This is where you can get information about many of the books featured on The Early Show in April.

Monday, April 30, 2007

"Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World," by Dr. David Ludwig

Most of the weight-loss books on the market are designed for adults, and that's bad news for overweight children, since what works for adults doesn't necessarily work for kids.

But Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children's Hospital in Boston, has age-appropriate advice for these kids and their families in his new book, "Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World."

What is the "food fight"?

Ludwig says, "For many families, weight loss is like warfare. All the family energy goes into the conflict between parent and child, and there's not much left for the weight problem."

He continues, "The battle takes place in three places - within the individual, within the home, and then within our communities and society."

Ludwig discussed it all on The Early Show.. To see the segment,

To read an excerpt of "Ending the Food Fight," click here.

To visit the book's official Web site, click here.

"The Woods"

Mystery lovers can't get enough of Harlan Coben's books.

His stories of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances have jumped to the top of the best-seller lists.

Coben's latest book is called "The Woods."

He stopped by The Early Show to talk about it. To watch the segment,

"The Woods" centers on a man struggling to balance family life and a busy career, when his complicated past suddenly comes back to haunt him.

Coben notes that all his books are in some way inspired by his life. "The Woods" draws on the fact that when he was 17, he was a counselor at a sleep-away camp. Looking back, he realized that the job had far too much responsibility for a teenage boy, and began to wonder what he would have done if something has happened on his watch.

Coben points out that there's far more suspense in "The Woods" than in mnay of his other works, and almost no violence. He says that was deliberate.

He also chose to have no clear-cut good guys or bad guys -- there are lots of shades of gray.

To read an excerpt of "The Woods," click here.

"Puppy's First Steps: The Whole-Dog Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, Well-Behaved Puppy," by Dr. Nicholas Dodman and Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine

Every year, nine million Americans get a new puppy.

Many are first-time owners who need a comprehensive guide to puppy care.

It's provided by veterinarian and animal behaviorist Dr. Nicholas Dodman, who worked with the faculty of Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine to create "Puppy's First Steps: The Whole-Dog Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, Well-Behaved Puppy."

Dodman discussed it on The Early Show. If you'd like to watch the segment,

The book highlights the importance of a humane, holistic, reward-based approach to training. The whole-dog approach looks at a puppy from all angles, including training, behavior, and health care.

To read an excerpt of "Puppy's First Steps," click here.

Dodman had two puppies with him on The Early Show set, Achilles and Snow White. Both are available for adoption from Bide-a-Wee, an animal shelter in Wantagh, on Long Island, N.Y., as are hundreds of other dogs and cats. For word on how to adopt a pet from the Bide-A-Wee, click here, or call (516) 785-4079. Bide-A-Wee also has a Manhattan location. That phone number is (212) 532-4455.

"Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan," by Frank Abadnale

When Frank Abagnale was a young man, he became a con man. He was so good at it, a movie was made about him: "Catch Me If You Can," which starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

Today, Abignale helps the FBI and companies around the world keep their private information secure.

And he tries to help you do the same with his new book, "Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan."

Abagnale stopped by The Early Show to talk about it. To see the segment,

He tells CBS News identity theft is much easier now than ever: "When I wanted to assume someone's identity 40 years ago, I had to go into the county records, look up a death certificate for a child, figure out who their parents are, obtain a birth certificate. The process took several days. Today, this can all be done in 30 minutes. It's so simple that you could scribble a friend's phone number and accidentally leave it by a pay phone and someone could use that to steal the person's identity."

Abagnale adds that, "Anyone can be a victim of this crime, even babies and dead people. I find that young people are targeted often since they are always being offered credit cards. But anyone can be victimized."

To quick preventive measures: "Buy a good paper shredder, one that micro-cuts paper. Ribbon shredders are useless. Those documents can be put back together. One that micro cuts is not more expensive and truly destroys the documents." And, "Find a good monitoring service. It's about $10 a month. I've had one monitoring my credit since 1996. I helped develop Privacy Guard and use that one. But there are several good services. The key to picking the right one is asking them two things: Do they monitor all three credit bureaus, and do they monitor in real-time?"

What if your monitoring service tells you your identity has been stolen?

"If you get a text from them in real-time that you're credit history is being accessed at Macy's in New York, and you're on the beach in Florida, you should call Macy's immediately and tell it to have security find the person who is in the process of opening an account in your name. If your credit report reveals theft, shut down all compromised accounts, call the credit bureau fraud departments, and file a police report."

To read an excerpt of "Stealing Your Life,"click here.

"Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom: Tighten and Tone Your Body in as Little as 10 Minutes a Day," by fitness expert Minna Lessig

If you're wondering how much working out you have ahead to get in shape for swimsuit season, fitness expert Minna Lessig's answer is -- only ten minutes a day.

She offers simple exercises in her new book and DVD, "Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom," and she demonstrated several on The Early Show.

The DVD and book are sold separately.

The book presents Minna's four-week sculpting program to help women tone their trouble spots. Each workout includes mind and body exercises: Instead of resting between sets, readers engage in positive visualization exercises created to enhance their well-being and self-esteem. And, with the jump start program, you can get results in as little as 10 days.

Lessig says the book is for everyone from beginners to fitness fanatics, and for exercising at home or at the gym. There are novice, skilled, and master-level exercises and, within each exercise is a beginner, intermediate, and advanced version. Lessig also included correlating "at the gym" exercises, for people who exercise there.

The DVD offers three workouts, each focusing on one body part (arms, belly and butt). It also includes a 15-minute total body circuit that includes some of Lessig's favorite dynamic compound exercises for quick results. Two sets of weights, one light and one heavier, are recommended. Two other fitness pros demonstrate modifications of all the moves.

To see Monday's Early Show segment,

To read an excerpt of "Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom," click here.

Lessig used Bosu balls in some of the exercises. For more on them, click here and here.

"Friends in High Places," by Marne Davis Kellogg

Kick Keswick's life is full of fabulous parties and daring robberies, thanks to her creator, mystery writer Marne Davis Kellogg.

The fourth and latest novel in Kellogg's series featuring the jewel thief-turned-detective is "Friends in High Places."

It finds Keswick jetting off to the Italian Alps to retrieve valuable, jewel-encrusted figurines.

Kellogg discussed it with co-anchor Harry Smith on The Early Show Friday. To watch the segment,

To read an excerpt of "Friends in High Places," click here.

"The Snack Factor Diet: The Secret to Losing Weight -- by Eating MORE," by nutritionist Keri Glassman

Nutritionist who believes that knowing the right snacks to eat can make us thinner and healthier.

According to health statistics, 60 percent of Americans are overweight. But nutritionist Keri Glassman believes knowing the right snacks to eat can make us thinner and healthier.

She says most people make one of two mistakes: Either they don't eat the right snacks, or they don't eat snacks at all.

Glassman is the author of "The Snack Factor Diet: The Secret to Losing Weight -- by Eating MORE."

She spoke about it on The Early Show Monday. To watch the segment,

To read an excerpt of "The Snack Factor Diet," click here.

"The Women Who Raised Me: A Memoir," By Victoria Rowell"

You probably know Victoria Rowell from her role as Drucilla Winters on the CBS daytime drama, "The Young and the Restless."

But, she's left TV to pursue other interests, including her new book about growing up as a foster child. It's called "The Women Who Raised Me: A Memoir."

It's a thoughtful tribute to the women who helped Rowell become the dynamic, successful person she is today. She grew up as a foster child in Maine. Her book is full of love for and gratitude toward these women, who helped Rowell turn what might be considered a challenging beginning in life into something positive.

Rowell says she sincerely loves all the surrogate moms, mentors and friends she's had through the years, and even honors the woman who gave birth to her, but couldn't raise her.

In discussing the book on The Early Show Thursday, Rowell speaks about several of the women who raised her. Rowell adds that she was a "journalist" of sorts, researching and digging for clues into her past as well as the lives of the women who impacted her.

Since 1999, Rowell has been working on a documentary about them called, "The Mentor."

She is appearing in a film with Samuel L. Jackson called "Home of the Brave," which will be released on May 11.

To see the Early Show segment,

To read an excerpt of "The Women Who Raised Me," click here.

To visit the book's official Web site, click here.

"From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Living Well With Heart Disease," by Kathy Kastan

Eight million American women live with heart disease.

Kathy Kastan was in her early 40s, athletic and apparently healthy, when she needed emergency heart bypass surgery.

Then, when she was laid low by the emotional impact of her illness, she wrote a book about it, " "From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Living Well With Heart Disease."

Kastan discussed it on The Early Show Thursday. To watch the interview, click here.

To read an excerpt of "From the Heart: A Woman's Guide to Living Well With Heart Disease," click here. The excerpt is provided courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong Books, copyright 2007, all rights reserved.

"The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border," by Teresa Rodriguez and Diana Montane, with Lisa Pulitzer

Juarez is just over the Mexican border, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas — but it's a completely different world for many of the women who live there. For more than a decade it has become one of the worst cities to live in if you are poor, young and female.

And, since 1993, the bodies of more than 400 women have been found there.

Teresa Rodriguez discusses the killings, and life in Juarez, in a book she co-authored, "The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border." She stopped by The Early Show Wednesday to talk about it. To see the segment,

To read an excerpt of "The Daughters of Juarez," click here.

It's published by Atria Books, which is part of Simon & Schuster, which itself is part of the CBS Corporation," as is CBSNews.com.

"I Heard That Song Before" and "Ghost Ship," both by Mary Higgins Clark

When you hear the name Mary Higgins Clark, you think "suspense." Her 26th mystery novel, "I Heard That Song Before," is coming out today.

But at the same time, she's taking on a new role: children's book author! Her first in that genre, "Ghost Ship," is also being released today.

She stopped by The Early Show to talk about them. She even read from "Ghost Ship"!

To watch the segment,

"I Heard That Song Before" follows newly-married Kay Carrington, whose wealthy husband, Peter, is accused of two murders. Sleepwalking is pivotal to the plot.

"Ghost Ship" is done with acclaimed illustrator and longtime friend, Wendell Minor.

It is, naturally, suspenseful. And it's set in Cape Cod, where Clark has had a home for 30 years.

"Ghost Ship" is the story of a friendship between two boys, one visiting his grandmother on summer vacation, the other a cabin boy for a sea captain who has stories galore of his adventures on the high seas.

What prompted Clark to try her hand at a children's book? She says she and Minor were at a signing, when Minor's editor suggested they collaborate. They quickly agreed. "It was almost like ducks in a row," Clark says. "We talked plot for four minutes. I am entrenched in the history of Cape Cod. I've always loved the background and myths and legends. It was easy to create a story, putting together some of the things that happened in the Cape."

Clark admits concern about not knowing "the rules" for writing a children's book, but says this "was very straightforward," and editors changed very little.

To read an excerpt of "I Heard That Song Before," click here.

To see an excerpt of "Ghost Ship," click here.

Both books are published by Simon & Schuster which, like CBSNews.com, is part of the CBS Corporation.