Parenting Books

I am always looking for good books on parenting, especially parenting from a Christian perspective.

Here are some that I have found helpful.

Christian
And Then I Had Kids, Susan Alexander Yates (sub titled: Encouragement for Mothers of Young Children). A realistic book about the ups and downs of mothering.

Disciplines of a Godly Family, Kent and Barbara Hughes. I think this was previously published as Common Sense Parenting. They give a godly perspective on many parenting issues, and give many practical ideas of how to share your faith within your family, the establishment of family traditions and lots of useful appendices. I have adapted their advent calendar for use in our family, which our children have loved doing each December 1-25. This book, combined with Jodie Bernt's Praying the Scriptures for your Children, transformed my prayer life, helping it to become more disciplined and structured. They have also written Disciplines of a Godly Man and Disciplines of a Godly Woman, which both my husband and I have really appreciated.

How to Really Love your Child, D Ross Campbell, M.D. A great commonsense book on ensuring that your children actually receive the love you give them. Easy to read and full of ideas.

Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, Jodie Bernt. This is a fantastic book which transformed my prayer life (along with Disciplines of a Godly Family, Kent and Barbara Hughes). She addresses numerous aspects of a child's life regarding their faith, character, safety, relationships and future; and at the end of each chapter provides Bible verses that you can pray specifically for your own children. I ended up typing many of them up and they have become the basis for the prayers I use for each of my children, and for everyone I pray for. Here is a more detailed review.

Loving Life as an at-home Mom, Donna Otto. There were lots of helpful things in this book, including challenging women to actually be 'at-home' mothers in their children's younger years. There were other parts of it that were less helpful, or personally relevant. For a more detailed review see here.

How to Really Parent Your Child, Ross Campbell. A great book which encourages you to think through how to proactively parent according to your child's needs rather than reactively parent according to your child's actions. Lots to think about especially with regard how we show love to our children and how to help them manage anger. A more detailed review is here.

** Please note this post has been updated to another page linking to all parenting books reviews - go here to see it.