"My grandson will only eat french fries and chicken nuggets." "My son only eats pizza, no fruits or vegetables." "My child has not been able to move from the bottle to solid foods." Picky eaters have landed at the top of daily parenting challenges, but even Grover and Elmo offer solutions in new books.

The biggest food fight making headlines as I write this column is "The Sneaky Chef" author Missy Chase Lapine's lawsuit against "Deceptively Delicious" author Jessica Seinfeld. Both books include similar ideas for sneaking vegetables into kids' foods.

While the two authors duke it out, check out these books to cope with your picky eater:

n "Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family" (Mancala Publishing, $16.95, 2007), by Pamela Gould and Eleanor Taylor, with Katherine Cason, dietitian.

"When I meet with parents, they almost always begin with stories about their picky eater," said Taylor, a registered nurse. "And they want ideas for creating peace at the table and ending food fights with their kids."

Taylor, of Charleston, S.C., who has taught wellness classes, said that throughout her career, she wished she had a tool that made nutrition simple and enjoyable.

"The book is written for parents as a field guide for hunting down healthy foods that kids can love," Taylor said.

n "Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor and a Bottle of Ketchup" (American Academy of Pediatrics, $14.95, 2007), by Laura Jana, a pediatrician in Omaha, Neb., and Jennifer Shu, a pediatrician in Atlanta. Both doctors have children.

The authors' goal: "To minimize food-related conflicts and take the fight out of food."

Their practical tips include:

1. If a child is playing with his food, he's not hungry.

2. Don't force a child to eat, but let him explore the various textures and tastes of foods.

3. Don't offer milk or juice right before meals. Your child will get full and not be interested in eating.

Teach healthy eating by example, said Jana, who operates a child care center. The curriculum there includes healthy food habits for life.

n A reissue of "Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family: Orchestrating and Enjoying the Family Meal" (Kelcy Press, $19.95, 2008) by registered dietitian Ellyn Satter. For more than a decade, Satter's mantra has been: "The parent is responsible for the what, when and where of feeding, and the child is responsible for the how much and whether of eating."

Parents who pressure their children to eat, or offer too little support with eating, can turn their children into finicky eaters, she said. The main task with a finicky eater is not to get him to accept more food, but to keep his eating from being an issue. Satter's Web site is www.ellynsatter.com.

Two books for children:

n "The Adventures of Tommy the Tomato" (JR Holt Publishing Co., $11.95, 2007) by nutritionist Jay Holt aims to teach children the ABC's of good eating and better health. Every letter of the alphabet introduces children to another friend in Tommy the Tomato's world of healthy eating.

For example, Tommy encounters one of his best friends, Barry the Banana, while they are playing basketball during gym class. Tommy gets a leg cramp, Barry gives him a banana, and the potassium in the banana takes the muscle cramps away.

"Kids don't really understand the finer points of nutrition, but they do understand fun, learning and what tastes good," Holt said. The Web site for the book is www.tommythetomato.com.

n "Happy Healthy Monsters: Grover's Guide to Good Eating" by Naomi Kleinberg (Random House, $6.95, 2007). Grover and Elmo, like many nutritionists, explain how some foods are "everyday" and others are "sometime foods." They encourage kids to "eat your colors" as they choose fruits and vegetables, and to have fun cooking and eating as a family. No monstrous food fights allowed.

Can you help?

Q: "My 3-year-old son has started having bad dreams. He recently gave up his nap and is waking up during the night, sometimes several times. After one of us goes into his room, we can pat his back, tell him he's OK and he'll go back to sleep. Since he gave up his nap, I don't think he is getting enough sleep."

-- A mother in Charlotte, N.C.

If you have tips or a question, please e-mail us at p2ptips@att.net. Betsy Flagler, a journalist based in Davidson, N.C., teaches preschool and is the mother of a teenage son. If you have tips or questions, please e-mail us at p2ptips@att.net or call Parent to Parent at (704) 236-9510.