The best books to help you be the parent you want to be

Betsy Brown Braun Author Of You're Not the Boss of Me: Brat-Proofing Your Four- To Twelve-Year-Old Child
By Betsy Brown Braun

Who am I?

My whole life I have loved working with children, corny though it sounds! (I guess that’s why I wasn’t so surprised to give birth to triplets 43 years ago!) For the past 50 years, my work has been with children and families. I have been a teacher, a school head, and I even founded an early childhood center. I am deeply committed to children and families, helping parents along the often rocky but so fulfilling parenting pathway. I provide the support for parents I wish I had had when I raised my brood.

I wrote...

You're Not the Boss of Me: Brat-Proofing Your Four- To Twelve-Year-Old Child

By Betsy Brown Braun

Book cover of You're Not the Boss of Me: Brat-Proofing Your Four- To Twelve-Year-Old Child

What is my book about?

Every parent wants to raise a child with the character traits that enable her to thrive in a world increasingly filled with temptations and distractions, traits like honesty, respect, self-reliance, and a host of others. Written in a down-to-earth, supportive, even humorous voice, this book really is the ultimate hands-on guide to raising the child you want!

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The Books I Picked & Why

Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive

By Daniel J. Siegel, Mary Hartzell

Book cover of Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive

Why this book?

This beautifully written book invites us to examine ourselves in order to be the parents we want to be. As we each bring to our role of parent our own childhood and our current relationships and experiences, this book teaches you how to look at these. It enables our awareness and purposeful choices in the parenting of our own children. You just can’t parent your child without knowing yourself.

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The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness: Five Steps to Help Kids Create and Sustain Lifelong Joy

By Edward M. Hallowell

Book cover of The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness: Five Steps to Help Kids Create and Sustain Lifelong Joy

Why this book?

This was my favorite book for years and years. Truth be told, anything Ned Hallowell writes sings to me. He is brilliant and so readable. This book is not only tremendously reassuring, but it makes being the parent you want to be entirely attainable. Hallowell deconstructs the path towards a child making himself happy. What more could you want?

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The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

By Daniel J. Siegel, Tina Payne Bryson

Book cover of The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Why this book?

From toddlers to teens our children mystify us, often making being their parents tremendously challenging. This easily understood book gives rhyme and reason to why our kids do what they do from the perspective of their brain development. It teaches us to respond with their brains in mind and grow them at the same time. It is one big “Ah Ha” experience.

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The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids

By Madeline Levine

Book cover of The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids

Why this book?

Over and over I urge my clients to read this book before they think they need to…even if they’re not “privileged.” In it we learn the real-life effects of over-privilege, of giving our kids too much, and more, of not expecting enough from them. Learning the critical connections between the choices we make for our kids and their emotional development certainly helps any parent to be the parent she hoped to be.

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The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed

By Jessica Lahey

Book cover of The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed

Why this book?

It’s hard to feel like you are being the parent you want to be when you feel like you are letting your child down. Jessica Lahey teaches us otherwise. Based on research and sharing personal experience, she convincingly teaches us the why and how of letting our children fail. She gives help for the business of daily life, turning failure into success for the long haul.

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