The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves, Empowering Our Children


Shefali Tsabary - 2010
    Shefali Tsabary’s A Call to Conscious Parenting is that our children are born to us to create deep internal transformation within us.Our children have the power to unleash our egoic behavior unlike anyone else, triggering all of our emotional reactivity. As, through our intimate relationship with them, we are exposed to our immaturity, they become our most accurate mirror of our own lack of emotional development. In other words, by inviting us to confront who we are in our relationship with them, our children raise us to be the parents they long for us to become.Despite our best intentions to raise our children well, in our unconsciousness we pass on emotional legacies to our children that have deep and lasting repercussions. Bequeathing to them our unresolved needs, unmet expectations, and frustrated dreams, we shackle them in unconscious patterns that shut them down to their own unique being. To do justice to parenthood, a parent needs to become conscious. Only to the degree we are willing to transform our own emotional present do we succeed in positively influencing our children’s future.Dr. Tsabary asks us to set aside traditional parenting strategies that major in controlling our children and instead find true kinship with their spirits by tuning into who each child is in its own unique essence. Surrendering to the oneness of the parent-child relationship in this way lifts parenting out of the physical and into the realm of the sacred.Peppered with practical, hands-on examples from Dr. Tsabary’s real-life experiences with the countless families she has helped journey consciously together, A Call to Conscious Parenting is a manual for giving our children the opportunity to shine and dazzle with their natural state of being.

A Piaget Primer: How a Child Thinks


Dorothy G. Singer - 1978
    Over more than six decades of studying and working with children, he brilliantly and insightfully charted the stages of a child's intellectual maturation from the first years to adulthood, and in doing so pioneered a new mode of understanding the changing ways in which a child comes to grasp the world.The purpose of A Piaget Primer is to make Piaget's vital work readily accessible to teachers, therapists, students, and of course, parents. Two noted American psychologists distill Piaget's complex findings into wonderfully clear formulations without sacrificing either subtlety or significance. To accomplish this, they employ not only lucid language but such fascinating illuminations of a child's world and vision as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as media manifestations like Barney and Sesame Street. This completely revised edition of this classic work is as enjoyable as it is invaluable--an essential guide to comprehending and communicating with children better than we ever have before.

My Secret Sister


Helen Edwards - 2013
    But they could not protect her from her neglectful mother and violent father. Jenny was adopted and grew up in Newcastle. Neither woman knew of the other's existence until, in her 50s, Jenny went looking for her birth family and found she had a sister.

The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption


Barbara Bisantz Raymond - 2007
    Part social history, part detective story, part exposé, The Baby Thief is a riveting investigative narrative that explores themes that continue to reverberate today.

Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love


Matthew Logelin - 2011
    Matt and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. After years of long-distance dating, the pair finally settled together in Los Angeles, and they had it all: a perfect marriage, a gorgeous new home, and a baby girl on the way. Liz's pregnancy was rocky, but they welcomed Madeline, beautiful and healthy, into the world. Just twenty-seven hours later, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and died instantly, without ever holding the daughter whose arrival she had so eagerly awaited. Though confronted with devastating grief and the responsibilities of a new and single father, Matt did not surrender to devastation; he chose to keep moving forward-to make a life for Maddy. In this memoir, Matt shares bittersweet and often humorous anecdotes of his courtship and marriage to Liz; of relying on his newborn daughter for the support that she unknowingly provided; and of the extraordinary online community of strangers who have become his friends. In honoring Liz's legacy, heartache has become solace.

There's No Such Thing As 'Naughty': The groundbreaking guide for parents with children aged 0-5


Kate Silverton - 2021
    Want to know the secret to tackling tantrums and tears, stopping squabbles in seconds AND lay the foundations for your child's good mental health in the process?In There's No Such Thing As 'Naughty', mum to two young children, journalist and children's mental health advocate Kate Silverton shares her groundbreaking new approach to parenting under-fives that helps to make family life so much easier and and certainly a lot more fun!Kate's unique strategies, easy-to-follow scripts and simple techniques will enable you to manage those tricky everyday challenges with ease - and help you to enjoy the strongest bond possible with your child, both now and in the years ahead.Endorsed by leading figures in the field of children's mental health, at the heart of the book is a simple and revelatory way to understand how your child's brain develops and how it influences their behaviour.Rooted in the latest science - explained really simply - this engaging, accessible and warm parenting guide will redefine how you see and raise your children, with a new understanding that for under-fives, there can be no such thing as 'naughty'.

Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother


Beth Ann Fennelly - 2006
    Some answer specific questions; others muse about the identity shift a woman encounters when she enters Mommyland. This book invites all mothers to join the grand circle of giving and receiving advice about children.

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons


Siegfried Engelmann - 1983
     Twenty minutes a day is all you need, and within 100 teaching days your child will be reading on a solid second-grade reading level. It’s a sensible, easy-to-follow, and enjoyable way to help your child gain the essential skills of reading. Everything you need is here—no paste, no scissors, no flash cards, no complicated directions—just you and your child learning together. One hundred lessons, fully illustrated and color-coded for clarity, give your child the basic and more advanced skills needed to become a good reader.

A Child Called "It"


Dave Pelzer - 1995
    It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games—games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it." Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive—dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.

How Children Fail


John C. Holt - 1964
    In his 1982 edition, John Holt added new insights into how children investigate the world, into the perennial problems of classroom learning, grading, testing, and into the role of the trust and authority in every learning situation. His understanding of children, the clarity of his thought, and his deep affection for children have made both How Children Fail and its companion volume, How Children Learn, enduring classics.

The Baby Sleep Guide: Practical Advice to Establish Good Sleep Habits


Stephanie Modell - 2015
     Sleep. It’s the most precious commodity, especially when you’re struggling to find it. 'The Baby Sleep Guide' provides simple and easy techniques to help you establish positive sleep habits early on that will pay dividends in the long term. Includes expert support and advice on: • How to settle your baby • Understanding baby sleep cycles • Establishing a night-time routine • Safe sleep Designed to be deliberately concise for time-poor parents, 'The Baby Sleep Guide' offers clear solutions to ensure a good night’s sleep for everyone.

Busy Toddler's Guide to Actual Parenting: From Their First "no" to Their First Day of School (and Everything in Between)


Susie Allison - 2020
    You don't need to feel like you're failing. And you definitely don't need another parenting book filled with theoretical advice about theoretical children. You need actual parenting help from an actual parent. It's time to feel confident in your parenting. Susie Allison, creator of the massive online community Busy Toddler, is a breath of fresh air. With her humor and engaging personality, she helps parents find their footing, shift their perspective on childhood, and laugh at the twists and turns of parenting we all face. (Yes, it's ok that your child licked a shopping cart - they pretty much all do that.)In Busy Toddler's Guide to Actual Parenting, Susie gives the achievable advice she's known for around the world, from daily life and #beingtwoisfine to tantrums and tattling and teaching the ABCs. The book also includes 50+ of her famous activities that have helped thousands of parents make it to nap time-FYI, the popsicle bath is a game-changer. Susie shares real moments raising her three kids as well as her professional knowledge from eight years as a kindergarten and 1st grade teacher. Her simple and doable approach to parenting will leave you feeling so much better!Let Susie give you the actual parenting advice you need.

Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion


Dale McGowan - 2007
    Donald B. ArdellIt's hard enough to live a secular life in a religious world. And bringing up children without religious influence can be even more daunting. Despite the difficulties, a large and growing number of parents are choosing to raise their kids without religion.In Parenting Beyond Belief, Dale McGowan celebrates the freedom that comes with raising kids without formal indoctrination and advises parents on the most effective way to raise freethinking children.With advice from educators, doctors, psychologists, and philosophers as well as wisdom from everyday parents, the book offers tips and insights on a variety of topics, from "mixed marriages" to coping with death and loss, and from morality and ethics to dealing with holidays. Sensitive and timely, Parenting Beyond Belief features reflections from such freethinkers as Mark Twain, Richard Dawkins, Bertrand Russell, and wellness guru Dr. Don Ardell that will empower every parent to raise both caring and independent children without constraints.

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction


David Sheff - 2007
    Before Nic became addicted to crystal meth, he was a charming boy, joyous and funny, a varsity athlete and honor student adored by his two younger siblings. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who lied, stole, and lived on the streets. David Sheff traces the first warning signs: the denial, the three a.m. phone calls—is it Nic? the police? the hospital? His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself. But as a journalist, he instinctively researched every treatment that might save his son. And he refused to give up on Nic.

Dad Is Fat


Jim Gaffigan - 2013
    Though he grew up in a large Irish-Catholic family, Jim was satisfied with the nomadic, nocturnal life of a standup comedian, and was content to be "that weird uncle who lives in an apartment by himself in New York that everyone in the family speculates about." But all that changed when he married and found out his wife, Jeannie "is someone who gets pregnant looking at babies."Five kids later, the comedian whose riffs on everything from Hot Pockets to Jesus have scored millions of hits on YouTube, started to tweet about the mistakes and victories of his life as a dad. Those tweets struck such a chord that he soon passed the million followers mark. But it turns out 140 characters are not enough to express all the joys and horrors of life with five kids, so hes' now sharing it all in Dad Is Fat.From new parents to empty nesters to Jim's twenty-something fans, everyone will recognize their own families in these hilarious takes on everything from cousins ("celebrities for little kids") to growing up in a big family ("I always assumed my father had six children so he could have a sufficient lawn crew") to changing diapers in the middle of the night ("like The Hurt Locker but much more dangerous") to bedtime (aka "Negotiating with Terrorists").Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.