Jump to content

Menu

What is your favorite parenting book?


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 104
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I can't pick just one... :willy_nilly: So here are my top four in no specific order.

 

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children by Wendy Mogel

 

Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting by Myla Kabat-Zinn and Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy

 

Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by LLLI & Baby Book by Dr. Sears

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My favorite is:

 

Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach

 

but I also love

 

How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk (and by the same authors, Siblings Without Rivalry)

 

and

 

Buddhism for Mothers (this is a very wise book and you do not have to be a buddhist to benefit from it)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd just like to 'third' or 'fourth' "Hold On to Your Kids". I'm very passionate about this book! They talk about the 7 levels of attachment, about peer-orientation vs parent-orentation, and it has a brilliant (and I don't use that term lightly) section on 'discipline that doesn't divide'.

 

It provides a beautiful picture of the parent-child relationship and has been foundational for our family.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest IrishLassie

"Too much of a Good Thing: Raising Children of Character in an Age of Excess" by Dan Kindlon

 

"The Trouble with Perfect: How Parents Can Avoid the Overachievement Trap and Still Raise Successful Children" by Guthrie and Matthews

 

"Unconditional Parenting" by Alfie Kohn (he's a bit too extreme in his views, I think, but he really gets you thinking about your parenting style)

 

"Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys" by Thompson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly? The book One Bite Won't Kill You http://www.amazon.com/One-Bite-Wont-Kill-You/dp/0395901464/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209444107&sr=1-1 was a lifesaver for us. It offered recipes that all of us liked and that I could adapt for allergies. Food struggles with dh and the kids was a big problem when the older boys were little and this really brought peace.

 

Traditional parenting books always made me so anxious/crazy. I had much better luck talking to women who had already raised their kids or who had much older kids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What book would you say is the best parenting book you have ever read?

 

The 10 Basic Principles of Good Parenting by Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D. Wonderful, amazing book that really helped me tremendously. Very straight-forward, very applicable to daily life. Brilliant.

 

I'm reading Buddhism for Mothers by Sarah Napthali right now, and it looks to be very promising as well, and also very usable by non-Buddhists. It has chapter titles like "Parenting Mindfully", "Finding Calm", "Dealing with Anger".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

1. "Shephering..." by Tripp is my favorite, but I HAVE to read this book very prayerfully, because I tend to want to just read the how-to parts and I then become very legalistic about my discipline instead of heart-centered. When read in the right spirit, this is a very nurturing, gentle, wonderful book on parenting. When read in the WRONG light, it can be significantly twisted into something that it is NOT.

2. "Teach Them Diligently" by Lou Priolo -- This book is all about teaching the Bible to your kids. It's not necessarily a "parenting" how-to.

3. "She's Gonna Blow" by Julie Ann Barnhill -- this book ministered to me during a very difficult time. My husband had just deployed when dd3 was 4 days old, and dd5 was then not even 2. PPD had set it BADLY and even though the title seems trite, this book was filled with very deep wisdom, sound Christian theology and most important to me, Scripture.

 

Next on my to-read list:

Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes...in You and Your Kids by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller. I've heard nothing but great about this one...again, aimed right at the heart of the matter, NOT at behavior.

 

EDIT:

 

By the way, I went up to Tedd Tripp's website: http://www.shepherdpress.com/blog/notes-from-tedd-tripp/a-note-from-tedd-tripp.php. I guess he and his wife did co-author a follow-up to Shepherding. He also recommends few other books.

Edited by BikeBookBread
More info...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"How to Really Love Your Child"

and

"Becoming the Parent You Want to Be"

 

For girls:

"Things Will Be Different For My Daughter"

 

For babies:

 

"The Baby Book" by Sears

"Nursing Secrets and Solutions"

"Mothering Your Nursing Toddler"

"You Are Your Child's First Teacher"

"Right from the Start" (major CC. I prefer the first edition to the revised one.)

 

For reflections on creating a calm, peaceful home with young children, a lovely read is "Mitten Strings for God." It's not really a parenting book, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over the years I have probably read at least 20! The best I believe is,

 

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk!

 

The concepts are the basis of most good parenting books. They are clear, concise and simple - and it works. I just need to read it every week to really keep it fresh in my head!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Over the years I have probably read at least 20! The best I believe is,

 

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk!

 

The concepts are the basis of most good parenting books. They are clear, concise and simple - and it works. I just need to read it every week to really keep it fresh in my head!!!

 

I agree, and I love their other book -- Siblings without Rivalry --- I read that one every-other-day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've read shelves and stacks of parenting books, from the No Greater Joy/To Train Up a Child books and ones similar to Mazlish & Faber's How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and ones similar to that. Having an awareness of many approaches available, picking and choosing what I liked from them (and tossing the rest of the advice I didn't like) and then tailoring them to each child has been what I have found works around here.

 

The only books I like that haven't been mentioned are: The Explosive Child, From Defiance to Cooperation, and When You Feel Like Screaming. For adopted or foster children, the book "When Love is not Enough" can be very eye-opening & helpful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Guest 2twinsandone
Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate

I loved this book but I wish it had more straight forward advice how to manage children. I have 5 children who we are raising using a fairly straightforward behavioral approach--if you do such and such behavior, this is the consequence. We have not had the success with the children's compliance, manners, and backtalk that I would like to have until I read the book and felt hopeful. There is lots of love and fun in our house but I do see many areas in which attachment is lacking, and, particularly, with my 13 year old, where that attachment has transferred to peers. Neufeld talks about collecting your children and taking the attachment back from peers and the advice he gives in this regard is good. He also talks about not using the usual consequences of time out and removal of prized possessions and privileges. Uh oh...that's exactly what we have been doing all these years. I can see how that may have hindered us in developing a strong attachment ...but, what are we supposed to do when the kids misbehave? Making them repeat the direction over and over until they do it correctly is advice someone gave on another thread but I am not sure that goes along with the Hold On to Your Kids theory and I don't think I could manage my temper in that situation anyway! Anyone else find this troubling and have any advice? :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share


×
×
  • Create New...