I’ve been doing a lot of reading – well, mostly audiobooks the past couple months (because kids). I’ve googled “best parenting books” or “how to get a toddler to eat” more times than I can count over the past 5-6 years. And I’ve come across some great books. I often come away thinking, “Wow, that’s a really great idea I should implement.” But then a child has an apocalyptic vomiting episode and I forget all about it.
The Problem: As soon as I put down a book, I forget 90% of whatever I just thought was so important. The format of a book doesn’t lend itself to quickly re-accessing just the important stuff.
My Solution: Write down the interesting, useful tidbits, complete with skepticism when appropriate. Make it easy to access. Put it online so other people can access it too.
Different Perspectives & A Deeper Dive
My ultimate goal is to have all the practical takeaways for families from some of the best parenting books (and parenting-adjacent books) in one accessible place. Some of this advice conflicts. Some is better quality than others. I’ll try to dig into reasons for the conflicts and some of the supporting research to how it holds up. Full disclosure: I’m just someone with a bit of common sense and a bit of time to look at what some of these studies actually say. I’m no expert.
Ideally, I’ll start organizing some of these takeaways topically, so you can see what some of the best parenting books say on an issue and where they differ. I’ll try to read through books with different perspectives and piece through strengths and weaknesses of each. Sometimes I will do an additional bit of digging on my own to make sure I’m presenting a fair picture and providing info that’s actually useful. And then hopefully that’ll put you in a position to decide for yourself how to approach the issue, or what books you want to dig into further.
“Best Parenting Books?”
There are a LOT of “best parenting books.” (For instance, check out the 2024 Amazon list! It includes books on SO many subtopics.) So how do I pick what to read?
I’ve been reading anything that strikes me as particularly interesting as a parent. I’m going to operate under the assumption that my interests aren’t too far out of the norm. If I find something interesting, others might too. That said, most of what I’m reading centers around the below topics:
Books I’ve Covered Recently:
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Rethinking Achievement Culture
A Discussion of the Risks of Achievement Culture in Never Enough by Jennifer Breheny Wallace
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Choosing Career Paths: Career and Family by Claudia Goldin
The book discusses the challenges modern women face in the career market, the historical ways women have tackled these challenges, and the root causes of the wage gap. (In brief, women tend to have more responsibilities at home.) I appreciated that this book focused on the practical realities of what happens to parents’ working lives…
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Feeding French: Takeaways from French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon
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)…
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When Your Toddler Won’t Eat Dinner – Food Takeaways from Cribsheet by Emily Oster
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.
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Why Weight Matters in Childhood – Takeaways from Magic Pill by Johann Hari
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…
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Tips from the Processed Food Industry – Takeaways from Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss
Takeaways on how the food industry lures in kids, so that you can use their tricks for good. This book was like taking a walk back through the 90s. Remember the Lunchables craze? Frosted Mini Wheats? Capri Sun, made with 100% real juice? This book takes the reader through many of these products from the…
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Developing Brains: Takeaways from The Whole Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.
The express goal of The Whole Brain Child is to teach parents strategies for better integrating a child’s brain. However, I think it is better described as a self-help book for parents: how to more skillfully handle your child on a day-to-day basis.
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Parenting Successful Kids – Takeaways from The Triple Package by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld
For children of immigrants, assimilation into American culture has been associated with worse outcomes. What are these parents doing differently? Here are my practical takeaways for parents.
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Yellow Flag for Social Emotional Learning – Takeaways from Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier
This book challenged my initial belief that emotional social learning taught in schools was probably harmless and likely beneficial. One of my primary takeaways from Bad Therapy was that some techniques that are currently in-vogue for parents and teachers to teach emotional skills (i.e., “social emotional learning”) are counterproductive.
