Books for parents. Which one is your bible?

December 14, 2006 11:59 AM

Books for parents. Which one is your bible?

Having 3 boys aged 2-4-6 I suddenly realized that it might make sense to learn from other people's educational experiences instead of falling into the same traps. But where to begin?

posted by mitocan to Human Relations (16 answers total)

The Mother's Almanac. It's laid back, easy going and has weird craft suggestions and best of all, it's reassuring. All it needs is a large button saying Don't Panic, but that's inside. ;-) Granted, I had the old version, which was hippy & dated, but I loved it and my kids seem to be turning out mostly okay.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:03 PM on December 14, 2006

Positive Discipline A to Z and Raising Kids Who Can. Between the two, I feel like there's nothing I can't handle.
posted by Gucky at 12:39 PM on December 14, 2006

The Power of Positive Parenting by Glenn Latham.
posted by mezzanayne at 12:45 PM on December 14, 2006

Read lots of books and recognize what they have in common. Generally, you'll find that they identify the same problems and things to avoid but there are a wide variety of possible approaches to addressing those problems. There are hundreds of good solutions to just about any parenting issue -- the approach someone else swears by may not work for you.

Having said that, we've found 1-2-3 Magic to be very useful.
posted by winston at 1:32 PM on December 14, 2006

Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn. It's a bit light on the practical applications, which is a good reason to supplement it with Raising our Children, Raising Ourselves by Naomi Aldort (http://naomialdort.com/).
posted by not that girl at 2:06 PM on December 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: How come all your suggestions are about parenting and communication? Is there no book about "children"?
posted by mitocan at 2:25 PM on December 14, 2006

Between Parent and Child by Haim Ginott. Virtually every other parenting book I like was influenced by it.
posted by rdc at 2:59 PM on December 14, 2006

What to Expect the Toddler Years
posted by Methylviolet at 2:59 PM on December 14, 2006

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Can Talk by Adele Faber.
posted by tom_g at 3:11 PM on December 14, 2006

Becoming The Parent You Want To Be, and a second for the Faber/Mazlish books.
posted by padraigin at 3:21 PM on December 14, 2006

"Bringing up boys" by James Dobson.

A quote from his book, "The greatest challenge is keeping them alive through childhood through adolescence."
posted by JujuB at 5:49 PM on December 14, 2006

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee. One of the very best books I have ever read, and the antidote to becoming a "helicopter parent."

Written from a Jewish perspective in a really accessible way that speaks to all people.
posted by 4ster at 6:59 PM on December 14, 2006

I have Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 and I believe that there is also one for older children. It's very nice for info about children.
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:08 PM on December 14, 2006

James Dobson is a flake nowadays, but his 60s era Dare To Discipline was, IMO, excellent.

Ymmv.

Disclaimer: I do not yet have children.
posted by baylink at 6:33 AM on December 15, 2006

Hold On to Your Kids, by Gordon Neufeld. We're about to become parents, but this is revolutionary stuff for parenting children of any age.
posted by RibaldOne at 8:39 AM on December 15, 2006

I came here to recommend Hold On To Your Kids and am happy to see it was already recommended. An amazing book indeed. I don't think the publisher's blurbs do it justice.
What do you mean with "is there no book about children?" I think it would help if you explain a little more about what kind of book you look for.
posted by davar at 1:10 PM on December 15, 2006