Insight-rich parenting books can be a great tool to help you traverse the complicated world of raising children. Balancing empathy with discipline, while also providing a nurturing and supportive environment, can be a challenge for any parent.
The best parenting books provide a sense of direction, through scientific assessments and psychological analysis, giving you the right strategies for cognitive development. You can also use these parenting books as reference guides, jumping to specific chapters when experiencing unique challenges.
Let’s explore the 25 best parenting books you need to read in 2023
Investing time in strengthening parenting skills can be rewarding for the whole family. By understanding what tools, techniques, and technologies to use, you can help your child expand their experiences significantly. You can also ensure that your child is self-expressive, creative, intelligent, and empathetic with the right parenting strategies.
Let’s check out the 25 best books you need to read as a parent:
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1. How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Laura Markham
This is one of the top books on parenting, as it explores the relationship between emotions and healthy relationships. The author is a psychologist and a thought leader in the domain of parenting and gives practical tips on how to deal with tantrums, power struggles, and behavioral issues.
Price – $12
Children Age – Ages 3 and above
Focus – Understanding emotions and their impact on bonding with kids
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
2. How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results by Esther Wojcicki
The insightful author and mother of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, Esther talks about reducing the role of parenting anxiety that is taking over the world right now. She shares more details on her parenting strategy with the acronym TRICK, standing for trust, respect, independence, collaboration, and kindness.
Price – $14
Children Age – Ages 3 and above
Focus – Treating kids with respect & trust and interacting with them as adults empowers them long-term.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
3. Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle While Other Kids Shine by Dr. Michele Borba
This is one of the best books on parenting, when you want to raise a child that can thrive in any environment. The book deconstructs early success to seven traits, namely confidence, empathy, self-control, integrity, curiosity, perseverance, and optimism. These skills can be taught to children, while discouraging limiting thinking and stressful engagement.
Price – $5
Children Age – Ages 5 and above
Focus – Understanding how to help children grow in a dynamic environment.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
4. The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel
The author’s background of neuroscience and psychiatry, enables him to craft a working guide on how to understand a child’s emotions. You can use this book as a tool to uncover the nuanced reasons why children act out, behave rudely, and introduce conflict. The book also serves as a guide for parents to teach children about managing their emotions with poise.
Price – $15
Children Age – Ages 3 and above
Focus – Neuroscience backed ways of nurturing emotional development in children.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
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5. Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be by Becky Kennedy
Dr. Becky focuses on the importance of molding a loving and compassionate human, rather than shaping behaviors and using punishment. She drives the importance of having a direct dialogue about small and large issues, rather than restricting growth through timetables and packed schedules.
Price – $15
Children Age – Ages 6 and above
Focus – Rethinking traditional parenting styles for more modern and human-centric strategies.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
6. Live Love Now by Rachel Macy Stafford
If you find your child misbehaving, being rude, and acting dismissive, then this is the right parenting book for you. You can instill important lessons on compassion, humaneness, civility, and kindness through well researched strategies. It is a great parenting book that strengthens emotional intelligence.
Price – $12
Children Age – Ages 10 and above
Focus – Teaching compassion through practice and examples.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
7. A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents by Ann Wignall
The book is about handling an anxious child and how quickly the world is changing, making it harder for young ones. It is one of the best parenting books, empowering you with new techniques to communicate about phobias, separation anxiety, fear of the dark, OCD, etc.
Price – $12
Children Age – Ages 5 and above
Focus – Stories from other parents giving you more scientifically tested tools to deal with modern challenges.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
8. Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves and Our Society Thrive by Marc Brackett
Unlocking the Power of Emotions is an excellent guide by author Marc Brackett who is a professor at Yale University’s Child Study Center and director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. It is one of the top parenting books that teaches you how to explain the concept of emotional understanding to a young child.
Price – $16
Children Age – Ages 5 and above
Focus – Using step-by-step guides to help kids understand emotions and labeling them.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
9. Wanting What’s Best: Parenting, Privilege, and Building a Just World by Sarah W. Jaffe
The book for parents is an eye-opening look into the new world we will be creating for our children. By instilling core values of justness, empathy, and support, we can help our children become role models for other kids long-term.
Price – $18
Children Age – Ages 10 and above
Focus – Focusing on the role of privilege and parenting, while discussing the future for children.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
10. No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. J. Siegel
The parenting book talks about the importance of not giving into tantrums, but instead focusing on why your child may be frustrated. You can get to the root of the problem by asking the right questions, instead of being angry at your kid for acting out.
Price – $12
Children Age – Ages 4 and above
Focus – Empathy for a child’s experiences will help you navigate the world of temper tantrums.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
Related Reading: Learning Disabilities in Children: Types, Symptoms & How to Help
11. Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach by Howard Glasser
The parenting book revolves around transforming the behavioral patterns that some children may adopt over time. It reestablishes the connection between internal patterns and external actions, giving you the right tools to change your child’s perception of the world towards the positive.
Price – $9
Children Age – Ages 5 and above
Focus – A healthy guide to deal with difficult kids and transforming their perspective.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
12. The Conscious Parent by Shefali Tsabary
If you are looking for a parenting book about the relationship between parental and childhood traits, then this is the right one for you. Clinical psychologist, Shefali Tsabary, talks about how parents unconsciously transmit their limitations and hang-ups to their children.
Price – $11
Children Age – Ages 7 and above
Focus – Unconscious inheritance of a parent’s limitations can impact a child’s future.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
13. Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool by Emily Oster
In Cribsheet, the economist Emily Oster focuses on the data-driven approach to insightful parenting. She offers the best strategies in sleep training, potty training, breastfeeding, and language acquisition, to help you be a relaxed parent.
Price – $15
Children Age – Newborns and above
Focus – The exact science behind age-old wisdom is explained through economic data
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
14. Raising Good Humans: A Mindful Guide to Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting and Raising Kind, Confident Kids by Hunter Clarke-Fields
The parenting guide gives you specific strategies to raising happier children. It focuses on the role of mindfulness in the lives of children, and gives you tools to help your children become more independent thinkers. It’s a great parenting book for raising children to act more compassionately towards others.
Price – $11
Children Age – Ages 4 and above
Focus – Tools for parents to keep calm during times of crisis.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
Related Reading: 6 Best Positive Reinforcement Tips For Teachers & Parents
15. The Bottom Line for Baby: From Sleep Training to Screens, Thumb Sucking to Tummy Time–What the Science Says by Tina Payne Bryson
The parenting book for babies provides scientific reasons why some parenting strategies work better than others. Bottles, solids, music classes, pacifiers, and other pressing subjects are discussed at-length in this comprehensive parenting book.
Price – $17
Children Age – Ages 1 and above
Focus – Scientific assessments of commonly held beliefs in parenthood.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
16. How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims
The parenting book tackles the complex issue of over-parenting and stressful parenting through conversations with educators, deans, and administrators. The author gives you a fresh perspective on parenting and illustrates the many ways that stress carries forward into a child’s life via their parents.
Price – $11
Children Age – Ages 7 and above
Focus – The role of pressure and stress as it trickles downs to children.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
17. How to Build Your Baby’s Brain: A Parent’s Guide to Using New Gene Science to Raise a Smart, Secure, and Successful Child by Gail Gross
Dr. Gail Gross’ extensive experience as an educator and a psychologist has been condensed into a great guide on building your baby’s brain. The importance of presence and being supportive has been explained in the parenting book, emphasizing the value of just being there for your kids to support their endeavors.
Price – $28
Children Age – Ages 1 and above
Focus – Being prepared for all challenges by being actively present in your child’s early development.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
18. All Joy And No Fun by Jennifer Senior
The classic parenting book written by award-winning journalist Jennifer Senior, focuses on how parenting has evolved over time. It is one of the best parenting books that empowers you to reevaluate how you view the challenges of parenting. By shifting to an experiencing mindset, you can enrichen time spent with children in a new way.
Price – $16
Children Age – Ages 6 and above
Focus – Narrative driven parenting guide encouraging parents to shift their mindset.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
19. Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too by Adele Faber
This classic parenting guide talks about the enriching experiences of having siblings that are always there for you. The parenting book will give you actionable strategies to reduce sibling tension, acting out, and fighting between brothers and sisters.
Price – $15
Children Age – Ages 5 and above
Focus – Cooperation and communication as a way of resolving conflict is explored.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
20. The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross W. Greene PhD
The parenting book offers a unique look into why kids get angry over the smallest of things. It encourages a stronger need for teaching kids the right skills in managing their thoughts and emotions as they experience them.
Price – $5
Children Age – Ages 3 and above
Focus – Parents can decode the reasons why their children act out through the right training.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
21. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber
This classic parenting book from 1999 has been a shining light for parents around the country. It goes into extensive detail about the value of listening and expressing without anger. If you are frustrated or disappointed with your child’s actions, then telling them about them directly and dispassionately will be the best way forward.
Price – $30
Children Age – Ages 5 and above
Focus – The power of clarity in communication and building a strong foundation of openness.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
22. Shame Nation: Choosing Kindness and Compassion in an Age of Cruelty and Trolling by Sue Scheff
This is one of the good parenting books that dives deeper into the world of online communication. Kids can experience a range of bullying and trolling online, making parenting that much more complicated. You can use this book to educate yourself on how to parent children in today’s digitally connected ecosystem.
Price – $9
Children Age – Ages 7 and above
Focus – The subject matter of online bullying is explored fully in this title.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
23. The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child by Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
Strengthening the fundamental skills required by every child, namely balance, resilience, insight, and empathy, is prioritized in this parenting book. The Yes Brain talks about how parents can teach their children about looking for new opportunities and being open and available to them.
Price – $22
Children Age – Ages 8 and above
Focus – A stronger focus on active seeking of possibilities is encouraged for kids.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
24. No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame by Janet Lansbury
No Bad Kids shifts the narrative of bad children to one that is more open, aware, and resolution oriented. Kids that act rudely towards their parents are often unheard and stressed about certain aspects of their lives. Having open dialogues about feelings earlier on can help set up a foundation for endless learning.
Price – $12
Children Age – Ages 2 and above
Focus – Strengthening the bond between parent and child during the tumultuous toddler years.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
25. The ABC’s of Learning Issues: A Practical Guide for Parents by Dana Stahl M
A complete parenting guide on learning issues, the book provides answers to many questions that parents have. Kids with special needs can flourish successfully in whatever path they may choose, and as parents we need to provide them the right type of nurturing.
Price – $20
Children Age – Ages 4 and above
Focus – The book enlightens parents of children with special needs, about the right tools and parenting approach.
Where to Buy – Amazon.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 4 important styles of parenting?
The 4 important styles of parenting are authoritative, permissive, authoritarian, and neglectful. The most popular approach is to be authoritative, which involves solving problems in a collaborative and well-structured way
How do I find the right parenting book for me?
The most important aspect is age group, followed by subject matter and author background. You should have a mix of different types of books to provide you with the right framework.
At what age is the child most influenced by the right parenting style?
The early developmental years are vital for parents, as kids often learn foundational skills such as reading, talking, and writing at this point.
How can kids learn to communicate better?
As a parent, you can establish a common rule within the household of open and honest communication. This will encourage your child to be more expressive with words, rather than choosing to lash out.
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