Each month on Kinsights we want to take a few minutes to shine a spotlight on some of the newly published parenting books, along with a few gems that have become popular over the last few years. The popularity of various parenting books can often help us get a sense of what parenting trends are gaining traction.
We love hearing about new book releases, reading new material, and learning more about parenting. If you’re an author, or if you’ve recently read a book you found to be insightful please suggest books in the comments below for us to check out or reach out to us using the feedback form in the bottom right of your screen.
Dr. Klein, director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development, published her new book How Toddlers Thrive last month based on her research in children’s social and emotional development. The goal of Klein’s book is to help parents understand everyday behaviors of their toddler, and give them the tools to troubleshoot challenges that all parents of toddlers face. Here’s a small excerpt from Chapter One of How Toddlers Thrive to give you a sneak peek inside the book, “Toddlers: They love us, they hate us. They seem carefree and secure at one minute, playing with confidence, and afraid of their own shadows the next, fiercely clinging to our leg.”
If you enjoyed that small excerpt and if you felt it resonated with a situation you’re currently experiencing, this book is definitely one you should check out.
French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon
Karen was struggling with her children having unhealthy eating habits while living in the United States, but when her family moved to France she decided to transform their attitude towards food. In her book, French Kids Eat Everything Karen shares her “French Food Rules” for healthy eating habits, recipes, meal planning, and cute stories that other parents can relate to. What I love about this book is that Karen provides parents with concrete tools and plans for raising healthy eaters, interspersed with charming stories.
All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior
In Senior’s book All Joy and No Fun, she analyzes the effect of children on their parents. So many parenting books focus on how the behaviors and mannerisms of parents affect children, but this does the opposite. Drawing upon history, anthropology, biology, and a multitude of other disciplines and personal experiences Senior’s conclusions are both witty and insightful.
To get a feel for the book, here is an excerpt from the introduction of All Joy No Fun:
“Today, we work hard to shield children from life’s hardships. But throughout most of our country’s history, we did not. Rather, kids worked. In the earliest days of our nation, they cared for their siblings or spent time in the fields; as the country industrialized, they worked in mines and textile mills, in factories and canneries, in street trades. Over time, reformers managed to outlaw child labor practices….The family economy was no longer built on a system of reciprocity, with parents sheltering and feeding their children, and children, in return, kicking something back into the family till. The relationship became asymmetrical. Children stopped working and parents worked twice as hard. Children went from being employees to our bosses.”
If you enjoyed that expert and part of Senior’s analysis on the parent-child relationship, be sure to check out her book and let us know your thoughts.
Brainstorm by Daniel J. Siegel MD
Do you have a teenager that you’re having a difficult time relating to and understanding? Dr. Siegel’s book Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Human Brain is aimed at teaching readers how brain developments between the ages of 12 and 24 influence a young adults’ behaviors and relationship.
In the first few pages of his book Brainstorm, Dr. Siegel explains that, “During the teen years, our minds change in the way we remember, think, reason, focus attention, make decisions, and relate to others…Life is on fire when we hit our teens. And these changes are not something to avoid or just get through, but to encourage.”
Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures
Yes, parenting is sometimes difficult, and there are challenges and new adventures to take part in everyday, all of which can be illustrated with crappy pictures. Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures is a book entirely comprised of the funny things that happen while being a parent all depicted with horrible drawings. If you’re looking for a laugh and want a book you can relate to, definitely flip through the pages of this book.
Closer Together, Further Apart
It’s apparent that technology is constantly changing in today’s world, and we often forget that as the world around us changes and as we interact with that world we change as well. A new book by Robert Weiss MSW and Jennifer P. Schneider M.D.,PhD titled Closer Together, Further Apart focuses on the role of technology on parenting and family dynamics.
If you feel like technology is changing your family dynamic or that technology is impacting your life in some way, pick up this book and send us your reviews and thoughts in the comments section.
Health Sleep Habits, Healthy Child
Last month Dr. Marc Weissbluth released a new version of his book Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child in an audiobook format with more tools and techniques for helping your child get the sleep they need. Dr. Weissbluth stresses the importance of creating a regular sleep schedule and patterns for children to help them have a healthy sleep cycle.
Clutterfree with Kids
Have you ever found that as a parent it isn’t always easy to keep things need and organized? Sometimes It can just feel like there is so much stuff everywhere you can’t keep anything together. Clutter is a very common problem for parents and a new book by Joshua Becker, Clutterfree with Kids aims to help parents de-clutter their lives. If you’re struggling with having too many things in your home and having too much going on this book may help you find a little clarity amongst the clutter.
If you pick up this book or suffer from endless clutter let us know your thoughts on the practical applications in Clutterfree with Kids.
Bébé Gourmet
Are you an adventurous eater and interested in help your child develop adventurous eating habits and prevent picky eating? Bébé Gourmet is design to help you integrate exciting and adventurous foods step-by-step in your child’s diet. By exposing your child to a variety of foods at a young age you get to awaken your child’s taste buds and start healthy eating habits from day one.
Let us know what you think of the recipes in Bébé Gourmet in the comments below:
Home Game by Michael Lewis
If you’re looking for the straight scoop on what it’s like to be a new dad, this is the perfect raw account of one father’s emotional journey. Home Game is the perfect tool to help new dads prepare for all those little unexpected things that make being a dad so special.
