If you struggle with guilt when you read parenting books, it can help to approach it like a mood board or advice from a cool aunt who has many beautiful ideas about kids but doesn’t have any themselves. 

Many books have a lot of good intentions and beautiful ideas but are meant to inspire and support YOU, not make you change everything about who you are. It is probably for the best to not view parenting books as how-to books. 

If a book is not serving you, you can give yourself permission to stop reading 📚

With that in mind, here are some parenting books that we got some good ideas from! 

Why we love this series:

It provides pedagogically-based activities and ideas if you want a more Montessori-inspired home

Why we love Good Inside:

It provides actionable tips from a child and family clinical psychologist

Why we love Hunt, Gather, Parent:

It highlights parenting techniques from indigenous cultures from around the world

Why we love Simple Happy Parenting:

It provides actionable strategies for simplifying parenting, reducing stress, and building connection

Why we love How To Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk:

It provides simple ideas of things you can do and say during challenging moments

Why we love The Whole-Brain Child:

It provides practical strategies to help children navigate their feelings as their brains develop

Why we love Balanced and Barefoot:

It shares statistics and insight about the impact of nature and outdoor play on a developing child

Why we love The Montessori Home:

It’s a visual guide with ideas for creating a Montessori home environment

Why we love The Joyful Child:

It offers practical activities to support different milestones in a child’s life

Why we love Playful Parenting:

It offers insight and playful activities that encourage a child to feel safe and understand new things

Why we love Differently Wired:

It encourages deeper thinking and reframing for parenting children with neurodifferences with practical advice

Why we love Raising Good Humans:

While this book is titled 'Raising Good Humans', it focuses a lot on exercises to better yourself first before bettering your children

Modeling reading is a great activity to do in front of your child! Children are constantly learning by observing the world around them, and by picking up your own book and reading, you are showing them that reading is important and fun. Looking to encourage your little reader more? A book shelf with covers facing outwards can help encourage interest. 

Do you enjoy any of these? Help us learn and share some of your favorites below, too ⬇️