heh.
your question is still a little vague, but I think I know what it is you're looking for. Basically, what you're looking for seems to be the squash deformer (look in the deformation shelf); this isn't heirarchy-related at all. I reccomend you look through the help files for the associated documents on the deformers, to start with.
If you attached a picture of things, that might help clear it up more, but that sounds about right.
Book Wise
https://X4nd5r.deviantart.com