Parenting Books

Jane asked the Parents List to offer their favorite parenting books and people came through with many! The following list is only slightly “vetted” by this blog’s editor (me, Rod), it is just a bunch of loving friends offering what they know. Many of these books/blogs/articles are not written from an explicit Christian viewpoint (you even might run into one that is from a “new age” viewpoint). So understand that — you’ll have to discern what is best for you and keep talking with the rest of the parents in the “village.” We will keep updating as more titles are offered.

Book title (year published)
Author — person suggesting the book

Spiritual Parenting: An Awakening for Today’s Families  (2010)
Michelle Anthony — Kim Crognale

The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them (2002)
Elaine N. Aron — Christine Mumbauer

Finding God at Home: Family Life as Spiritual Discipline (1984)
Ernest Boyer, Jr. — Rod White

Touchpoints: 3 to 6 (2002)
Berry Brazelton and Joshua D. Sparrow – Kathryn Snyder

Touchpoints: Birth to 3 (2006)
Berry Brazelton and Joshua D. Sparrow — Kathryn Snyder

Nurtureshock: New Thinking About Children (2009)
Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman – Kathryn  Snyder

The Opposite of Worry: The playful parenting approach to childhood anxieties and fears  (2013)
Lawrence J. Cohen — Holly Olshefski

How to Talk to Kids So They Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk (1999)
Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish and Kimberly Ann Coe – Steve Falkowski

The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More (2013)
Bruce Feiler – Kim Hewlett

The Magic Years: Understanding and Handling Problems of Early Childhood (1996)
Selma Fraiberg and T. Berry Brazelton — Kathryn Snyder

Dad is Fat (2013)
Jim Gaffigan – Steve Falkowski

Transforming the difficult child: the nurtured heart approach, (1999)
Howard Glasser and Jennifer Easley (Nurtured Heart approach site) – Holly Olshefski

Raising Human Beings: Creating a Collaborative Partnership with Your Child (2016)
Ross Greene — Kathryn Snyder

The Child with Special Needs: Encouraging Intellectual and Emotional Growth (1998)
Stanley I. Greenspan, Robin Simons, Serena Wieder — Kathryn Snyder

Building Healthy Minds: The Six Experiences That Create Intelligence and Emotional Growth in Babies and Young Children (2000)
Stanley Greenspan — Kathryn Snyder

Article: What Everyone’s Missing in the Attachment-Parenting Debate (2012)
Jennie Rothenberg Gritz — Bryce Hewlett

Fathering Right from the Start: Straight Talk about Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond (2001)
Jack Heinowitz and Wade F. Horn – Steve Falkowski

Giving the Love the Heals (1998)
Harville Hendrix and Helen Hunt – Rod White

Blog: Rage Against the Minivan
Kristen Howerton — Ashley Holland

The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults (2015)
Frances E. Jensen, Amy Ellis Nutt — Kathryn Snyder (a well-researched book about the current neuroscience into the transformation of the brain at adolescence. Jensen is a journalist and researcher who has done a great job of making the science understandable and applicable)

Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love (2008)
Sue Johnson — Bryce Hewlett
Just out! Created for Connection: The “Hold Me Tight” Guide for Christian Couples (2016)
Sue Johnson and Kenneth Sanderfer – Rod White

The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer (2005)
Harvey Karp and Paula Spencer (website) – Steve Falkowski

The Happiest Toddler on the Block: The New Way to Stop the Daily Battle of Wills and Raise a Secure and Well-behaved One-to- Four-Year-Old (2005)
Harvey Karp and Paula Spencer (website) – Steve Falkowski

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys (2000)
Dan Kindlon, Michael G. Thompson, Teresa Barker — Kathryn Snyder

Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes: Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing (2006)
Pau Levine – Nathan Swanson

The Emotional Life of the Toddler (1995)
Alicia Lieberman — Kathryn Snyder

Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Child: Eliminating Conflict by Establishing Clear, Firm, and Respectful Boundaries (2001)
Robert MacKenzie — Kathryn Snyder

Blog : Positive Parenting Solutions
Amy McCready — Kim Crognale

Blog: My Brown Baby
Denene Millner – Rod White

To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration (1986)
Gertrud Mueller Nelson – Rod White

Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids (2009)
Kim John Payne, Lisa M. Ross (the blog)—Kim Hewlett

Partnership Parenting How Men and women Parent Differently – Why It Helps Your Kids and Can Strengthen Your Marriage (2009)
Kyle and Marsha Pruett — Kathryn Snyder (this book talks about the differences between fathers and mothers in general parenting practices and gives discussion to how each and both can bring benefits to children.)

Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense (2000)
Ellyn Satter – Alison Wear

Mean Moms Rule: Why Doing the Hard Stuff Now Creates Good Kids Later (2012)
Denise Schipani– Kim Hewlett (the blog)

Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, persistent and Energetic (2006)
Mary Sheedy Kurchinka Ed.D (the blog) — Kim Hewlett

Parenting from the Inside Out (2004)
Daniel Siegel and Mary Hartzell – Holly Olshefski, Kathryn Snyder (this book takes Siegel’s ideas about mindsight and walks parents through understanding how their own upbringing and associations/reactions get activated in parenting and supports them in developing insight, new skills and strategies for overcoming these automatic responses to be more attuned parents)

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind, Survive Everyday Parenting Struggles, and Help Your Family Thrive (2011)
Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson  — Kristen Rashid

Brainstorm: The Teenage Brain from the Inside Out (2013)
Daniel Siegel — Kathryn Snyder (this book is about the dramatic brain change that happens at adolescence. It is written with teenagers in mind, as well as their parents, to help in understanding the inevitable and necessary transformations at adolescence and the behavior that results from it in order to change the perception that teenagers are full of “sturm und drang”).

No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind (2014)
Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne BrysonKristen Rashid

Safe House: How Emotional safety Is the Key to Raising Kids Who Live, Love, and Lead Well (2015)
Joshua Straub – Rod White

Sacred Parenting: How Raising Children Shapes Our Souls (2005)
Gary Thomas – Rod White

Good and Angry: Exchanging frustration for character in you and your kids (2002)
Scott Turansky, Joanne Miller — Kim Crognale

Blog: BMWK: Black and Married with Kids
Lamar and Ronnie Tyler – Rod White

The Enneagram of Parenting: The 9 Types of Children and How to Raise Them Successfully (1997)
Elizabeth Wagele (author page)– Kim Hewlett

Listen: 5 simple tool to meet your everyday parenting struggles (2016)
Patty Wipfler and Tosha Schore — Holly Olshefski

Nonprofit resource retailer: Family Christian – Parenting books.