New Parent Bookshelf

[Just Pete]

We're looking for the most useful and readable parenting books. Please provide title, author, and a short summary of the book's content. Extra points if you provide an Amazon link, as well.

[Krista]

Sacred Parenting by Gary L. Thomas: How parenting challenges us to exercise our faith and understand our relationship with God in light of the relationship between parent and child. Excellent book. Reminds me of the big picture when I so easily get distracted by the day to day stuff. Best read when discipline becomes more of an issue. =)

BabyWise- Taken with a grain of salt (can't overemphasize this enough), this book really helped me with just the basics of how to meet the basic needs of a newborn.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child- Another good book used more as a reference, rather than reading from cover to cover. Helpful in understanding the developmental stages of your child and how to help them get the sleep they need. It covers newborn all the up to the teenage years.

[Tiffany Borne]

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg
This book was my favorite. It included information about sleeping, playing, and feeding. Some of it is common sense, but the author had a way of presenting the information that made me remember that information at 2am (and 4am and 7am...) It also included a lot of information related to problem solving. Also, there is an on-line community (thebabywhisperer.com).
http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Baby-Whisperer-Connect-Communicate/dp...

[jacobpaulbreeze]

I would recommend reading "The Radical Hope in the Annunciation: Why Both Single and Married Christians Welcome Children".

It is a really helpful essay by Stanley Hauerwas in The Hauerwas Reader

[Just Pete]

My coworkers got me the book The Expectant Father by Armin A. Brott. It's laid out month-by-month, though the content itself doesn't differ much from other popular books, such as What to Expect When You're Expecting.

It has led, however, to the following exchanges with my wife:
ME: My book said you might start getting cranky like this.
HER: Oh, that's weird, because my book said you would start reading into things!

[Meg]

I guess we haven't read any true parenting books - unless you can count What to Expect . . . I do a LOT of Internet reading over my lunch hours and most of that time is devoted to babycenter.com. You can sign up to receive a weekly e-mail newsletter as soon as you know you are pregnant. I have also found it fun to read some of the boards, especially the ones devoted to bargains and the one that includes all other August 2006 moms.

If you are not too burnt out on the pregnancy books, I've got a few "light-reading" recommendations for Janet. I enjoyed reading Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy and The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine. These were both hilarious and did not sugar coat anything about being pregnant or giving birth. At times, I laughed so hard I cried, and Ryan ended up reading parts of them as well. I've still got a borrowed copy of the Girlfriend's Guide if you would like to read it. Note: I probably would not spend the $ to buy these books, but they are fun to read.

If you have insurance through Health Alliance, you can sign up for their Mommy Matters program, and they will send you a free book and other materials.

[Beebe]

I like "The Baby Owner's Manual" by Louis Borgenicht, MD and Joe Borgenicht DAD. It is written like a technical manual, you might want to check it out. You can find it Here