The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (updated and revised)
by William Sears et al., 2003
Amazingly comprehensive, covering just about everything you want to know about how to care for your baby and toddler.
The Joy of Fatherhood: The First Twelve Months Expanded 2nd Edition
by Jacob Goldman, 2000
Great information for new dads, not just about your baby, but about understanding and relating to the mother – your partner in a completely new and very challenging phase of your relationship and adult life.
Confident Parents, Remarkable Kids: 8 Principles for Raising Kids You’ll Love to Live With
by Bonnie Harris, 2008
There are many parenting books, of course. This one helps parents bring out the best in their children (and themselves!) without resorting to punishments and rewards that may temporarily get parents what they want at the cost of undermining children’s abilities to become respectful and responsible.
When Your Kids Push Your Buttons, And What You Can Do About It
by Bonnie Harris, 2004
This book gives you the tools to understand why your buttons are getting pushed, and how to free yourself (and your children!) from the over-reactions every parent makes based on his or her own childhood experiences.
The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children
by Ross Greene, 2010
An extremely wise and helpful book for parents with explosive children. It has lots of practical techniques for reducing battles and bringing more peace into the home.
Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child
by John Gottman, 1998
A great book, by a respected psychologist and father, that teaches fundamental practices and skills based on decades of research on emotion and relationships.
Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys
by Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, 2000
A very powerful and insightful book on how boys are socialized to be emotionally limited, and how to see the effects on your son and take steps to help him overcome them.
Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood
by William Pollack, 1998
Another very powerful and insightful book on how boys are harmed by ‘male socialization,’ including in schools, and how to protect your son against many of the effects while promoting a much more healthy masculinity.
Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them
by James Garbarino, 2000
An important and potentially life-saving book on why boys become violent, how to recognize the early signs in aggressive behavior, and how to provide the social, psychological and spiritual environment and help that can prevent violence.
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
by Mary Pipher, 1994
Classic book on the challenges and toxic influences that can harm adolescent girls in our society, the serious consequences that can result (e.g., eating disorders, self-mutilation), and how to help girls protect themselves and become healthy and confident young women.
