01
How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
This book focuses on the importance of communicating and understanding your child’s emotions and feelings, and realising that a young child is not always capable of articulating those feelings. With simple suggestions on how to rephrase hurtful statements and how to be more supportive and encouraging, How To Talk is considered a bible for new parents. Open communication is key to raising children well and that’s what you will learn when you read this book.
Buy it here.
02
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman
Covering a broad range of topics that are extremely relevant in today’s time, such as, co-existing with different races to evergreen ones like lying and sibling rivalry, NurtureShock debunks a lot of theories parents subscribe to, using scientific research and analysis. Would you have thought that praising your children for doing something well could actually reduce their confidence? Or that lying is a sign of intelligence? If nothing else, this book will definitely make you think about how you react to things your child does.
Buy it here.
03
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies To Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind
Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
This New-York Times bestseller makes you a lot more accepting and understanding of the tantrums, aggressiveness, meltdowns, etc that your child may frequently exhibit, by proving that it is simply their way of maturing. While explaining the concept of the left and the right brain, and the upper and the lower brain, The Whole-Brain Child provides you with some simple and clear strategies on how to develop your child’s mind using story-telling, memories, and SIFT (sensations, images, feelings and thought), amongst others.
Buy it here.
04
Positive Parenting: An Essential Guide
Rebecca Eanes
Eanes, a parenting blogger, postulates that if you have a strong emotional bond with your child, you will help him/her become a successful adult. Besides dispelling new-fangled theories like a parent should never say no to anything, Positive Parenting also provides you with the tools on how to create such a bond. Eanes, being a young mother herself, understands the trials and tribulations of raising a child and this book feels as if it is written by a friend and not an academic.
Buy it here.
05
Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn – And Why They Need to Play More And Memorize Less
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek & Roberta Michnick Golinkoff with Diane Eyer
Incredibly relevant now when new parents are desperately trying to raise the most intelligent child by spending lots of money on educational toys, activities, and the titular flash cards, Einstein Never Used Flashcards stresses on the importance of letting children ‘just be’ to develop their intelligence and creativity. Focusing on the importance of outdoor play, self-play, and unstructured play, the authors state that kids learn best when left to play with traditional toys such as doll-houses, play-dough, and foam blocks.
Buy it here.
06
French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved To France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, And Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters
Karen Le Billon
Surprised by not being allowed to send a snack for her children when they were studying in a French school, Le Billon, observed that not only do French children eat everything, they are also extremely well behaved. Part memoir, part cookbook and part parenting book, French Kids Eat Everything, establishes a link between a child’s behaviour and development with both, a detached, non-obsessive style of parenting and healthy, non-fussy eating habits.
Buy it here.
07
The Gift Of Failure: How The Best Parents Learn To Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed
Jessica Lahey
Many new parents feel the need to fiercely protect their child by rushing to his or her defence and never letting them experience failure. The Gift Of Failure talks about how not letting your child fail is actually detrimental to their development. Further, Lahey emphasises that by challenging teachers and holding them responsible for the child’s ‘failures’ in the classroom, parents are preventing their children from being equipped to deal with the real world. For a child, it is as important to experience failure as it is to feel successful and that is exactly what this book focuses on.
Buy it here.
08
Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs
Ellen Galinsky
As the title suggests, Mind In The Making, covers the seven skills that Galinsky believes are important for every child to have. These skills range from critical thinking to understanding varied perspectives, and from exerting self-control to making connections between the things children learn. Not only is this book entertaining to read because of the author’s personal anecdotes which are woven in with well-researched studies, it also provides you with suggestions on what activities you can do to develop these skills in your children.
Buy it here.
09
Siblings Without Rivalry – How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too
Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
The arrival of a second child can require a fair degree of adjustment, both, for the parent and the first child. The once new parents may think they know exactly how to raise a child, but their tried and tested methods may not work thanks to the dreaded sibling rivalry. Faber and Mazlish, once again, prove to be experts as through this book they teach parents how to best use competition, increase cooperation, and help the children develop their special sibling bond.
Buy it here.
10
The Co-Parents’ Handbook: Raising Well-Adjusted, Resilient, And Resourceful Kids In A Two-Home Family From Little Ones To Young Adults
Karen Bonnell & Kristin Little
As unpleasant as it may be, divorce or separation is very real, and affect children. While it seems unusual for new parents to not be together, it is not as uncommon as one would think. Parents’ separation can emotionally affect children to a large extent and The Co-Parent’s Handbook provides separated parents with a roadmap on how to emotionally secure your child, prevent them from feeling guilty, co-operate with your ex, and even how to introduce your child to a new partner.
Buy it here.
As a young boy, Nirbhay had the annoying habit of waking up at 5 a.m. Since television was a big no-no, he had no choice but to read to entertain himself and that is how his love affair with books began. A true-blue Piscean, books paved the path to his fantasy worlds- worlds he’d often rather stay in. Nirbhay is the co-founder and publisher of The Curious Reader.
You can read his articles, here.
