We often find ourselves reading an article or book thinking about how much we’d like to share it with parents. I also get requests for good sources of information on specific topics like parenting, mindfulness, or dealing with stress and anxiety.
Mindfulness Resources
For Children:
- Sitting Still Like a Frog by Eline Snel (simple mindfulness practices to help your child deal with anxiety, improve concentration, and handle difficult emotions) Love this book! Comes with a CD.
- A Handful of Quiet by Thich Nhat Hanh
- Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry Lee MacLean
- Meditation is an Open Sky by Whitney Stewart
For Parents:
- Mindful Parenting by Kristen Race
- Mindful Discipline by Shauna Shapiro
- Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment – and Your Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Arnold Kotler
Books for Parents: Parenting, Brain Science & Psychology
- The Whole-Brain Child – Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind By Daniel Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D
- No-Drama Discipline – The whole brain way to calm the chaos and nurture your child’s developing mind By Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne-Bryson, PhD
- Raising Happiness – 10 simple steps for more joyful kids and happier parents by Christine Carter, PhD
- Mindset – The new psychology of success by Carol Dweck, PhD
- The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D.
- The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown, PhD, LMSW
- Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, PhD, LMSW
- Brain Rules – 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School by John Medina
- Letting Go of Perfect – Overcoming Perfectionism in Kids by Adelson and Wilson
Parenting Books for Tweens and Teens
- That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week: Helping Disorganized and Distracted Boys Succeed in School and Life by Ana Homayoun [Helpful advice for parents struggling with disorganized boys—or girls.]
- Masterminds and Wingmen: Helping Our Boys Cope with Schoolyard Power, Locker-Room Tests, Girlfriends, and the New Rules of Boy World Hard by Rosalind Wiseman [Reveals the way boys think and shows parents, educators and coaches how to reach out and help boys overcome their most common yet difficult challenges.]
- Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World by Rosalind Wiseman [How girls’ experiences before adolescence impact their teen years, future relationships, and overall success.]
- Getting to Calm: Cool-Headed Strategies for Parenting Tweens + Teens by Laura S Kastner and Jennifer Wyatt (my personal favorite parenting book for tweens!) [Kastner shows parents how to stay calm and cool-headed while dealing with hot-button issues ---with clear, easy-to-follow suggestions for setting limits while maintaining a close and loving relationship.]
Great Books for Kids
For younger children:
- Have you Filled a Bucket Today? A guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud
- Simon’s Hook – A story about tease’s and put-downs by Karen Burnett
- The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein
- Beautiful Oops! By Barney Saltzberg
For Third Grade and Up:
- From American Girl Press:
- The Feelings Book – The Care and Keeping of Your Emotions
- The Care and Keeping of You
- A Smart Girl’s Guide to Knowing What to Say
- Get Organized Without Losing It by Janet Fox
- Cliques, Phonies and Other Baloney by Trevor Romain
- The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook for Kids by Shapiro and Sprague
For Divorce:
- Mom’s House, Dad’s House for Kids by Iolina Ricci, PhD
- The Divorce Helpbook for Kids by Cynthia MacGregor
- What in the World Do You Do When Your Parents Divorce? By Winchester and Beyer
- Divorce is Not the End of the World – Zoe and Evan’s Coping Guide for Kids by Zoe and Evan Stern
For Grieving Children
- I Know Someone Who Died: Activity Book for Children by Connie Manning
- When Someone Has a Very Serious Illness: Children can learn to cope with loss and change by Marge Heegaard
- When Someone Very Special Dies: Children can learn to cope with grief by Marge Heegaard
- When Something Terrible Happens: Children learn to cope with grief by Marge Heegaard
- Healing Your Grieving Heart: For Kids by Alan D. Wolfelt
- How I Feel: A Coloring Book for Grieving Children by Alan D. Wolfelt
- But I didn’t Say Goodbye: Helping children and families after a suicide by Barbara Rubel, MA
- Honey Bear Died by Jennifer E. Melvin (appropriate for 3-5 year olds)
For Grieving Teens
- Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss by Hope Edelman
- How to Cope with Losing Someone You Love: Straight talk about death for teenagers by Earl A. Grollman
- I Will Remember You: What to do when someone you love dies by Laura Dower
- You Are Not Alone: Teens Talk about Life after the Loss of a Parent by Lynne B. Hughes
- Healing Your Grieving Heart: For Teens: by Alan D. Wolfelt
- The Grieving Teen: A guide for teenagers and their friends by Helen Fitzgerald
- Fire in My Heart, Ice in My Veins: A journal for teenagers experiencing loss by Enid Samuel-Traisman
- Reactions: A workbook to help young people who are experiencing trauma and grief by Alison Salloum
- Straight Talk about Death for Teenagers: How to cope with losing someone you love by Earl A. Grollman
For Grieving Adults
- Healing Your Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas (Healing Your Grieving Heart series) by Alan D. Wolfelt
- Healing a Child’s Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas (Healing Your Grieving Heart series) by Alan D. Wolfelt
- Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss by Hope Edelman
- A Broken Heart Still Beats: After Your Child Dies by Annie McCracken & Mary Semel
- Lean on Me Gently: Helping the grieving child by Doug Manning
Timely and Helpful Articles:
How to Help Anxious Kids When Bad Things Happen by Natasha Daniels
No Snapchat in the Bedroom: Managing Kids Media Use