As parents, we all need a little help. Quite frankly, it feels overwhelming when all I’ve got to pull from is my own family’s microcosm of who we are and what we’re going through. (Where’s my stack of the world’s best parenting books when I need it?) I get to the bottom of my bag of tricks quicker than I like, I try them all over again, and then what?
Well, then I ask for advice. And while my friends have handy tips and tricks of their own—or very, um, interesting tips, I find myself searching for something more legit. That’s when I fully grasp how important great parenting books are to have on hand!
But how do you know which books are the best parenting books for every stage? Which will help you parent in a godly way and which won’t? Don’t worry. I’ve got your reading list all lined up!
So, are there books to help your kid find community, deal with tragedies, become social media savvy, and live responsibly? Yes. This list will help with all that and more!
So, are there books to help your kid find friends, deal with tragedies, become social media savvy, and live responsibly? Yes. This list will help with all that and more! Here are some of the best parenting books to help you raise your kiddo into the Jesus-loving, world-improving, people-helping, confident-yet-humble man or woman God meant for them to be.
Talk Now and Later: How to Lead Kids Through Life’s Tough Topics
by Brian Dollar
This book helps you guide your kids through common issues with a godly perspective: God, death and tragedy, sex, self-image, making wise choices, divorce, friendships, money, bullying, and restoring broken relationships. Yes, please!
Right Click: Parenting Your Teenager in a Digital Media World
by Kara Powell, PhD, Art Bamford, and Brad M. Griffin
The digital onslaught today is nothing like what we were raised with, so we don’t have great experience to pull on for parenting our kids through it. That is, until this book!
Nurturing the Leader Within your Child: What Every Parent Needs to Know
by Dr. Tim Elmore
Every kid is different, but every kid still has leadership potential! This book helps you find approaches for building your kid up for leadership in a way that clicks with them.
Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids
by Dr. Kara E. Powell and Dr. Chap Clark
When our kids are little, we can teach them about faith. But how do we teach faith in a way that sticks so that our kids thrive in their relationship with God when they become adults and leave our homes? This book is full of research and godly wisdom to help us parents out!
Parenting With Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility
and
Parenting Teens With Love and Logic: Preparing Adolescents for Responsible Adulthood
by Foster Cline, MD and Jim Fay
Are you constantly telling your kids to do the things they’re supposed to do? Exhausting, right? Foster Cline and Tim Fay have a great approach that can help you keep your sanity and temper in check while you build your kids up in a way that helps them learn responsibility and ownership!
Boundaries for Kids: When to Say Yes, When to Say No, to Help Your Children Gain Control of Their Lives
and
Boundaries for Teens: When to Say Yes, When to Say No
by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend
Another kids/teen bundle! When your kids are young, they’re learning to take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions. Then, when they’re teens they have to navigate relationships, peer pressure, dating, and character on a whole ’notha level! These books will help you help your kids build their own healthy boundaries based on biblical principles.
Are My Kids on Track? The 12 Emotional, Social, and Spiritual Milestones Your Child Needs to Reach
by Sissy Goff, Med. LPC-MHSP, David Thomas LMSW, Melissa Trevathan, MRE
You can read loads and loads of articles, go to the pediatrician, and talk to teachers to track your kids’ physical and intellectual growth. Now you can read this book to get some insight on spiritual milestones!
Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family
by Paul David Tripp
We have enough to-do lists. How about some vision based in God’s grace to refuel us as parents? Thanks, Paul David Tripp.
The Lifegiving Parent: Giving Your Child a Life Worth Living for Christ
by Clay and Sally Clarkson
There’s a lot of advice in this world for parenting where the child is the heart of your home. This book has ideas to help you make Christ the heart of your home so your kids see what life with Him is like!
So did you find a book to help you through a tricky or mysterious stage? Looks like it’s time to get reading!