Parenting Books

Karen Le Billon describes her family’s move to France and explains why French children are so well behaved at restaurants and eat whatever is put on their plates. She sets out ten French food rules, which I reduce to four basic takeaways: (1) A parent’s job is to teach the child to appreciate food; (2) Food is reserved for sit-down social experiences; (3) Everyone eats the same meal; (4) Keep food emotionally neutral (don’t use it as a reward or punishment). I also discuss our own family’s attempts to implement some of these rules, and our struggles.

Sometimes it feels like no matter what you try, your toddler won’t eat dinner . . . Below is an in-depth review of toddler food strategies that Emily Oster discusses in her book Cribsheet.

Magic Pill explores the reasons so many people struggle to lose weight in a traditional way. Many people are essentially trapped at an unhealthy BMI by a combination of biology, psychology, and their established eating habits. I found this discussion very interesting as there are a number of lessons applicable to raising kids, from avoiding teaching eating as a coping mechanism to understanding the role of processed food, etc.