Parenting Bookshelf

Until I fix the widget, anyway, the bookshelf titles are here ... and NEW, sorted by category!

Pregnancy/Childbirth

HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method: A natural approach to a safe, easier, more comfortable birthing (3rd Edition) Hypnobirthing ROCKS. Not into pain OR into medical/medicated birth? Here's your middle option!

Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way: Revised Edition This way works, too. Prefer hypnotherapy, but wasn't at all unhappy with this method the first time.

The Birth Partner, Third Edition: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions (Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, &) Essential birth prep for anyone helping a laboring mom. Great for dads, but also for sisters, aunts, moms, anyone.

The Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby Precursor to the 'Mother of All' series. Caveat, I'm in this one, as a panelist (one of I think 300?). But still. :)

Soranus' Gynecology 2nd Century AD Greek OB/GYN text. Thought provoking, shocking, amazing. Women back then had the same struggles we do now, the same decisions, questions, fears.

A Holistic Guide to Embracing Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood First-level holism - body, mind, soul. Nice instructions on being a whole person in pregnancy, or becoming one on the way.

Child Development and Stages

What's Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life The thinking person's guide to child development. Great for dads, lawyers, scientists, researchers, and anyone interested in the research and depth behind 'why they do that'.

The Wonder Weeks. Eight predictable, age-linked leaps in your baby's mental development characterized by the three C's (Crying, Cranky, Clingy), a change ... and the development of new skills Why they're fussy, why you feel crazy, when to expect it to hit. Great resource for preventing maternal misery ('what did I do wrong?')

Any Ames and Ilg 'Your X-Year Old' series, such as: Your Three-Year-Old: Friend or Enemy One of the classics - everything in this series is excellent. Want to know why your kid is 'like that'? 90% of the time, it's just their age.

Communication and Problem-Solving Techniques

Parent Effectiveness Training: The Proven Program for Raising Responsible Children The best overall book on collaborative problem solving, family relationships, communication, and parenting I own.

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk The same content is covered in P.E.T., but this version is fast, easy to understand, and doesn't take as long to integrate fully. Good for the bathroom.

Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too Got this two weeks in to having two kids. Turned things around the first day, and haven't looked back. Yes, we got lucky, and our kids are a good mesh - but no, it isn't only what they were born with.

Respectful Parents, Respectful Kids: 7 Keys to Turn Family Conflict into Cooperation Non-violent communication method laid out clearly, with WORKSHEETS so you can figure out what your knee-jerk reaction to common issues is in advance!

Parenting From Your Heart: Sharing the Gifts of Compassion, Connection, and Choice (Nonviolent Communication Guides) Small booklet, but clearly stated and outlined method for communicating and allowing choice without losing your own needs in the process.

Personal Insight and Parenting Philosophies

Our Share of Night, Our Share of Morning: Parenting As a Spiritual Journey Excellent imagery for thinking of the process of being a parent. More spiritual than religious, for those who hesitate to leap.

Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting Mindfulness in parenting. The appendices are priceless.

Soul Trek: Meeting Our Children on the Way to Birth If you ever felt like you knew your child before they were born... or wish you knew more about that time, this is a great book.

In the Newborn Year: Our Changing Awareness After Childbirth Felt like your skin was ripped off with childbirth, making you intensely sensitive to the world's pain? You're not alone.

Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe (and Parents Sane) Immensely valuable not just for 'keeping them safe' but for thinking about what we're teaching them with our daily interactions. (Does No mean No?)

What's Making You Angry?: 10 Steps to Transforming Anger So Everyone Wins (Nonviolent Communication Guides) Help for figuring out your own anger issues, and theirs, and stepping back from them effectively. Small booklet, but clear information.

The Six Stages Of Parenthood Dense, and dated (70's references!), but oh-my-god, that's ME, and me, and me, and look, me again! For each age of child, my parenting is spot-on typical reactions (at least the knee-jerk side is!).

General Parenting Instruction Books

The Pocket Parent Excellent 'glove box' reference for the 2-5 year old. Lots of consequences, which we try to avoid pro-actively, but good insight, ideas, 'why they do that', etc.

The Mother of All Parenting Books: The Ultimate Guide to Raising a Happy, Healthy Child from Preschool through the Preteens (Mother of All) I first 'met' Ann Douglas when I was a panelist for the Unofficial Guide to Having a Baby. Loved her then, still do - no attitude other than 'you have a brain'

Parenting Books I Want to Own (but don't - yet)

Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason This one is one of the big core books on parenting philosophy, and ties in with P.E.T. and other 'think about what you're doing first, parent second' books. Research-based. I haven't read it, but I have read discussions about it, and it would be a good option to add. Recommended by people I trust.

When Your Kids Push Your Buttons: And What You Can Do About It This one is by the same author as How To Talk So Kids Will Listen, and deals with the concrete 'they drive me NUTS and I can't keep on top of my reaction' solutions. Another one highly recommended by people I trust.

MotherStyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths I looked this one up because I'm doing Type Watching at work, and I'm typing my kids to see what areas of strength come naturally to them, and what will need extra skills. It was a big help to at least one reader, and it is on my list of books I want.