My Book List

Parenting Books:

• Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps -- And What We Can Do About It, by Lise Eliot. I found this book fascinating- it really makes you think about your parenting behavior and how that might influence the skills your child develops. I also like the author's first book, What's Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life.
• Bedtiming: The Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep at Just the Right Age, by Marc Lewis and Isabel Granic. This is my favorite sleep book, because it helped me figure out why my daughter might be having trouble sleeping, and then whether it would be a good time to try to make changes. I only wish I'd had it when Pumpkin was a baby! Isabel Granic is also one of the authors of the Child of Mind blog, which is one of my favorite parenting sites.
• Playful Parenting, by Lawrence Cohen. I think I'll come back to this one more as my children get older. It has already earned its keep, though, by being the source of the "play it out" technique that helped us teach Pumpkin not to bite other kids at day care.
• Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too, by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. Another book that I'll come back to, but some of the info was even useful before the second baby was born. Now I'm reading another of their books, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, and I think it will be useful, too.
• Raising Your Spirited Child Rev Ed: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic, by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. I think Pumpkin is "spunky", not "spirited", but the book still had some useful ideas for tantrum avoidance.
• The Nursing Mother's Companion, by Kathleen Huggins. This book is extremely helpful for diagnosing (and fixing!) some common nursing problems.

Useful children's books

• We used the following books to help prepare Pumpkin for the arrival of her new sibling:
  
  
  • The New Baby, by Fred Rogers- yes, Mr. Rogers. The pictures are a little out of date, but this was Pumpkin's favorite book for awhile.
  • I'm a Big Sister, by Joanna Cole
• We used Once Upon a Potty -- Girl, by Alona Frankel to help with potty training.
• We found Teeth are Not for Biting, by Elizabeth Verdick to be helpful when Pumpkin was biting at day care. The publisher has an entire series of similar books- I've heard Feet are Not for Kicking is good if that is your child's favored method of showing aggression. Pacifiers Are Not Forever was helpful in preparing Pumpkin to give up her binky (although the Binky Fairy is what really did the trick).

Other Grown-Up Books I Recommend

• Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth, by Mark Sloan. This would not be a good book to give to a pregnant woman who is particularly nervous about things, but I read it during my second pregnancy and loved it. I wish I had read it during my first pregnancy.
• The End of Food, by Paul Roberts. A while back, I got a bit obsessed about food, and read a bunch of books on the subject. This was my favorite of the bunch- it was the least alarmist and most balanced.
• The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande. I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I am definitely a list writer, so perhaps no one else is surprised. But I think everyone should read this book. If you're already a checklist writer, it will make you feel less like a dweeb.  If you aren't a checklist writer, it might make you start.
   

Other Kids Books I Recommend

• Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy, by Lynley Dodd. Of the many NZ imports we have and love, this is probably the easiest to find. It is repetitive enough for kids to love it without being so repetitive that it drives you insane reading it.

You can also check out Pumpkin's book list, which may soon become Pumpkin and Petunia's booklist. Or maybe Petunia will get her own list. We'll see.

I have also started a page listing my book reviews. And I try to remember to put the books label on my posts about books.