Recommended Reading

Recommended Books for Parents

Our favorite books for parents for caring for children from birth to adulthood.

Caring for babies

Baby 411: Clear Answers & Smart Advice for Your Baby’s First Year by Ari Brown, MD

Toddler 411: Clear Answers & Smart Advice for Your Toddler by Ari Brown, MD

For help with soothing fussy babies, read: The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp, MD

For help on improving sleep read: On Becoming Babywise: Learn How Over One Million Babies Were Trained to Sleep Through the Night the Natural Way by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam

Caring for young children

For help with improving sleep, read: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, MD

The Active Parenting Series by Michael Popkin

Caring for teenagers

A great book for pre-teen and teenage girls on their changing bodies. We encourage parents to read this first, or read it together with your daughter: The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls by Valorie Schaefer and Norm Bendell

Yes, Your Teen is Crazy!: Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind by Michael Bradley

Nutrition

Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup by Laura Jana MD and Jennifer Shu MD

Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld

Attention Deficit Disorder

Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder by Edward Hallowell, MD and John J. Ratey, MD

Parenting

Human Moments: How to Find Meaning and Love in Your Everyday Life by Edward Hallowell MD

Caring for sons

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Michael Thompson and Dan Kindlon

Adoption

Recommended reading as you prepare to welcome a child through adoption.

Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections  by J. MacLeod and S. Macrae, editors.

Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child by P. Cogen

Big Steps for Little People: Parenting Your Adopted Child  by C. Foster

The Connected Child  by K. Purvis

Becoming a Family: Promoting Healthy Attachments with Your Adopted Child by Lark Eshelman

Adoptive Families Magazine

Talking to Your Child About Death

The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: A Story of Life for All Ages by Leo Buscaglia “is a warm, wonderfully wise and strikingly simple story about a leaf named Freddie. How Freddie and his companion leaves change with the passing seasons, finally falling to the ground with winter’s snow, is an inspiring allegory illustrating the delicate balance between life and death.

Talking About Death: A Dialogue Between Parent & Child by Earl A. Grollman.  A workbook to give parents their own path, to better understand how children see death and how to talk about death in an age-appropriate manner.

Waterbugs & Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children by Doris Stickney “is a graceful fable written by Doris Stickney who sought a meaningful way to explain to neighborhood children the death of a five-year-old friend.”

Everett Anderson’s Goodbye by Lucille Clifton “is a touching portrait of a little boy who is trying to come to grips with his father’s death. Lucille Clifton captures Everett’s conflicting emotions as he confronts this painful reality. We see him struggle through many stages, from denial and anger to depression and, finally, acceptance.”

Parental Separation/Divorce

Ages 3-6

Why Do Families Change?: Our First Talk About Separation and Divorce by Dr. Jillian Roberts helps inform and empower parents to have that first discussion with their young child about this significant life change.

Ages 4-7

Dinosaurs Divorce by Marc Brown helps children understand why parents divorce, what divorce and similar words/terms mean, and how life will be different after parents are divorced/separated.

Ages 8-12

When Mom and Dad Separate by Marge Heegaard offers ways for children to explore and navigate the grief of this major life change through drawing and art.

When My Parents Forgot How to be Friends (Let’s Talk About It) by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos is a great book for parents and children to read out loud together then discuss their feelings.

Divorce Is Not the End of the World: Zoe and Evan’s Coping Guide for Kids was written Zoe and Evan Stern when they were young teenagers following the divorce of their parents. The siblings write about a multitude of topics and experiences, and included are updates from the pair 10 years later.