Me & Mrs. C
A child-friendly introduction to the Crucial Cs
2026 | Price: $8.50
Me & Mrs. C is a warm, beautifully illustrated story that helps young children understand The Crucial Cs—Connect, Capable, Count, and Courage. Through simple moments with Mrs. C, the child narrator discovers what it means to make friends, learn new skills, help others, and try hard things, even when they feel unsure.
Each page shows how everyday experiences—sharing toys, matching socks, climbing the big slide, or teaching someone something new—help children feel connected, capable, needed, and brave. The story ends by showing that every child already has all four of the Crucial Cs inside them.
This gentle, encouraging book is perfect for parents, teachers, counselors, and anyone who wants to help children grow with confidence and kindness.
“Growing up, who was your Mrs. C? The genius of this book is how it invites and shows you how to be a Mrs. C, in a child’s eyes, ears and heart.”
– Julia Yang, Ph.D., Lead author: The psychology of COURAGE, An Adlerian Handbook for Healthy Social Living. Routledge, NY 2009
Encouraging Parents, Courageous Children:
The Crucial Cs Handbook
A simple guide to the Crucial Cs
2022 | Price: $17.00
This easy-to-read handbook introduces The Crucial Cs—Connect, Capable, Count, and Courage—Dr. Bettner’s well-known framework for understanding children’s behavior. With clear examples and practical tools, she shows how each “C” helps children feel secure, confident, and ready to learn.
Available in English and Korean.
“For those of you wanting to have a parenting expert next to you right when you need it, and in a way that would not make you feel even more discouraged—this book is for you. Get it, keep it, you will never want to let it out of your sight!”
– Marina Bluvshtein, Ph.D. LP; MA LMFT
To purchase books, please email books@familyleadershipcenter.org or blbettner@verizon.net
Raising Kids Who Care About Others
Teaching empathy and social interest
2019 | Price: $10.00 plus shipping
This warm, encouraging book helps parents teach children how to be kind, thoughtful, and socially responsible. Dr. Bettner explains the Adlerian idea of social interest in simple, practical language and offers strategies families can use right away.
Available in English and Chinese.
“With simple, clear prose, the core concept of social interest is illustrated in multiple ways. Bettner also clearly gives strategies to encourage and develop it in children. This is a wonderful little book that parents and caregivers can absorb and put into action. Thank you, Betty Lou”
— Marjie Longshore, M.Ed.
The Six Essential Pieces of the Parenting Puzzle
Understanding behavior and building cooperation
2014 | Price: $10.00 plus shipping
This book offers a clear, practical look at six key ideas that help parents understand children’s behavior and respond with encouragement. Dr. Bettner brings Adlerian principles to life with examples that make the concepts easy to use at home or in professional settings.
Available in English, Chinese and Spanish.
“ … I am eager to add it to my own library of favorite books. Thanks so much for this major contribution to the field of Adlerian studies, Betty Lou. It’s a treasure.”
— Linda E. Jessup, R.N., M.P.H., F.N.P.
The Creative Force: How Children Create Their Personalities
Making lifestyle understandable and accessible
2006 | Price: $10.00 plus shipping
In this engaging book, Dr. Bettner explains how children form their beliefs, behaviors, and sense of self. Using clear, relatable examples, she makes the Adlerian concept of lifestyle easy to understand for parents, teachers, and counselors.
Available in English and eleven other languages: Hebrew, Greek, German, Dutch, Chinese, Romanian, Russian, Hungarian, French, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
“In my opinion there is no book that explains in a better, clearer, more exact way how life style is built … Thank you, Betty Lou, for this great book.”
— Dr. Peter Pollak, Director, Adler-Pollak Institute for Adlerian Psychology, Germany
Raising Kids Who Can:
Become Responsible, Self-Reliant, Resilient, Contributing Adults and How to Use Family Meetings to Make it Happen
by Betty Lou Bettner and Amy Lew
Helping children grow with confidence and capability
1989 | Price: $10.00 plus shipping
This encouraging, easy-to-read book helps parents support children as they learn to do things for themselves. Drawing on Adlerian principles, the book explains how children build confidence, courage, and a sense of capability through everyday experiences. With clear examples and practical strategies, adults see how to guide children in ways that strengthen cooperation, resilience, and self-trust.
Families will find simple tools they can use right away—whether a child is learning to get dressed, solve problems, help at home, or try something new. The book highlights how encouragement, connection, and shared responsibility help children feel capable and valued.
“Raising Kids Who Can offers a useful, sensible, caring, respectful approach that all families can benefit from. My family held its first meeting last night and we plan on continuing. This book gave me the impetus and inspiration to get it going.”
— Ellen Bass, coauthor of The Courage to Heal