100 books like A Still Quiet Place

By Amy Saltzman,

Here are 100 books that A Still Quiet Place fans have personally recommended if you like A Still Quiet Place. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Mindful Games: Sharing Mindfulness and Meditation with Children, Teens, and Families

Christopher Willard Author Of Growing Up Mindful: Essential Practices to Help Children, Teens, and Families Find Balance, Calm, and Resilience

From my list on teaching mindfulness to kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a psychologist, consultant, author, and father based in Massachusetts, and I am also a former special education teacher. After discovering mindfulness as a young man when I was struggling with my own stress, substance abuse, and mental health challenges, I became determined to share with others. I love reading and writing books, sharing child development and mental health tips in workshops worldwide, and helping kids, families, and schools be their best. I’m also the author of twenty books for adults and kids, including Alphabreaths (2019), Growing Up Mindful (2016), and Feelings are Like Farts (2024). 

Christopher's book list on teaching mindfulness to kids

Christopher Willard Why did Christopher love this book?

Susan is an old friend but also one of the original teachers of mindfulness for kids, and both books offer a range of practices, theory and research. Mindful Games is exactly what it sounds like, and exactly what many of us want in teaching mindfulness to kids- fun, simple, exercises for all ages that teach her “ABC’s” of Acceptance, Balance, and Compassion.

By Susan Kaiser Greenland,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mindful Games as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A practical and playful guide for cultivating mindfulness in kids, with 50 simple games to develop attention and focus, and to identify and regulate emotions

Playing games is a great way for kids to improve their focus and become more mindful. In this book, The Mindful Child author Susan Kaiser Greenland shares how parents, caregivers, and teachers can bring mindfulness into the classroom or home. She provides 50 entertaining games that develop what she calls the new “A, B, C’s”—Attention, Balance, and Compassion—for your child’s learning, happiness, and success, offering context and guidance throughout. She introduces:

• Anchor games that…


Book cover of Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children

Christopher Willard Author Of Growing Up Mindful: Essential Practices to Help Children, Teens, and Families Find Balance, Calm, and Resilience

From my list on teaching mindfulness to kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a psychologist, consultant, author, and father based in Massachusetts, and I am also a former special education teacher. After discovering mindfulness as a young man when I was struggling with my own stress, substance abuse, and mental health challenges, I became determined to share with others. I love reading and writing books, sharing child development and mental health tips in workshops worldwide, and helping kids, families, and schools be their best. I’m also the author of twenty books for adults and kids, including Alphabreaths (2019), Growing Up Mindful (2016), and Feelings are Like Farts (2024). 

Christopher's book list on teaching mindfulness to kids

Christopher Willard Why did Christopher love this book?

This book is one of my favorites, and by my favorite mindfulness teacher Thich Nhat Hanh no less. Full of hands on activities, arts and crafts, and beautiful illustrations and simple instructions. I was initially skeptical of some of the instructions and practices, but was amazed at how well they “worked” with kids.

By Thich Nhat Hanh, Wietske Vriezen (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Planting Seeds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children is the fruit of decades of development and innovation in the Plum Village community's collective practice with children. Based on Thich Nhat Hanh's thirty years of teaching mindfulness and compassion to parents, teachers, and children, the book and enclosed CD cover a wide range of contemplative and fun activities parents and educators can do with their children or students. The activities are designed to help relieve stress, increase concentration, nourish gratitude and confidence, deal with difficult emotions, touch our interconnection with nature, and improve communication. 

Planting Seeds offers insight, concrete activities, and curricula that…


Book cover of Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents)

Christopher Willard Author Of Growing Up Mindful: Essential Practices to Help Children, Teens, and Families Find Balance, Calm, and Resilience

From my list on teaching mindfulness to kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a psychologist, consultant, author, and father based in Massachusetts, and I am also a former special education teacher. After discovering mindfulness as a young man when I was struggling with my own stress, substance abuse, and mental health challenges, I became determined to share with others. I love reading and writing books, sharing child development and mental health tips in workshops worldwide, and helping kids, families, and schools be their best. I’m also the author of twenty books for adults and kids, including Alphabreaths (2019), Growing Up Mindful (2016), and Feelings are Like Farts (2024). 

Christopher's book list on teaching mindfulness to kids

Christopher Willard Why did Christopher love this book?

I appreciate this small guide (with audio) is a simple accessible guide to bringing mindfulness into daily life for younger kids. It does not get bogged down in theory or explanations but gets right to the point with simple, fun practices that exhausted parents, and educators can share with their children and students.

By Eline Snel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sitting Still Like a Frog as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Simple mindfulness practices to help your child (ages 5-12) deal with anxiety, improve concentration, and handle difficult emotions—with a 60-minute audio CD of guided exercises

Mindfulness—the quality of attention that combines full awareness with acceptance of each moment, just as it is—is gaining broad acceptance among mental health professionals as an adjunct to treatment. This little book is a very appealing introduction to mindfulness meditation for children and their parents. In a simple and accessible way, it describes what mindfulness is and how mindfulness-based practices can help children calm down, become more focused, fall asleep more easily, alleviate worry, manage…


Book cover of Mindful Parenting: A Guide for Mental Health Practitioners

Christopher Willard Author Of Growing Up Mindful: Essential Practices to Help Children, Teens, and Families Find Balance, Calm, and Resilience

From my list on teaching mindfulness to kids.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a psychologist, consultant, author, and father based in Massachusetts, and I am also a former special education teacher. After discovering mindfulness as a young man when I was struggling with my own stress, substance abuse, and mental health challenges, I became determined to share with others. I love reading and writing books, sharing child development and mental health tips in workshops worldwide, and helping kids, families, and schools be their best. I’m also the author of twenty books for adults and kids, including Alphabreaths (2019), Growing Up Mindful (2016), and Feelings are Like Farts (2024). 

Christopher's book list on teaching mindfulness to kids

Christopher Willard Why did Christopher love this book?

I love Susan Bogel’s straightforward path to mindfulness for parents and children. She has the mind of a scientist and it shows, but writes the heart of a teacher or therapist. Her book and writing are incredibly clear, as well as impeccably organized. The activities and scripts are engaging and precise, and the program is easy to follow.

By Susan Bögels, Kathleen Restifo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mindful Parenting as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Despite its inherent joys, parenting can be challenging and stressful. When a parent or child suffers from a mental health issue, these difficulties multiply. Designed for use by clinicians, this book teaches an eight-week structured mindfulness training program for parents, with invaluable handouts and assignments to keep caregiving on track.


Book cover of Breathe: Strategizing Energy in the Age of Burnout

Dan Brulé Author Of Just Breathe: Mastering Breathwork

From my list on breath and breathing.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am one of the earliest pioneers of the Modern Breathwork Movement and recognized as a leading expert and authority in the field. I have been studying and practicing the Art and Science of Breathwork since 1970, and I have published a Breath and Breathing Report every month since 1976. I have traveled to over 65 countries and trained more than 250,000 people, including navy SEALs, first responders, Olympic athletes, psychotherapists, medical doctors, nurses, hospice workers, spiritual counselors, corporate executives, yogis, meditation teachers, and celebrities such as Tony Robbins. I am the Founder and Director of The International Center for Breathwork, and The Breathing Festival. 

Dan's book list on breath and breathing

Dan Brulé Why did Dan love this book?

This book is about a new and elegant approach to healthcare called ‘energy management’. Dr. Manga’s passion is in bringing mindfulness into medicine and in inspiring conscious living as a way of restoring and supporting health and wellbeing. She teaches high performers how to access authentic energy instead of relying on adrenalized energy. Dr. Manga offers simple yet powerful ways to integrate what she calls “recovery loops” into our everyday lives. This book is full of real-life stories about the effects of stress and is a treasure trove of practical tips for preventing and recovering from it. In fact, I believe that this book will do more to help you prevent and recover from stress and burnout than anything you have learned or that has been published to date.

By Ela Manga,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Breathe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Profound. Insightful. Transformative. Breathe brilliantly shines light on the basic laws of energy by weaving together neuroscience and Eastern philosophy.


Burnout has become the new cancer of our complex world. Faced with a collective global energy crisis, the fractured distractions and demands of our digitalised lives have drained us of our inherent life force. As we tumble into a vortex of disconnection, our natural energy resources are constantly being depleted.


Breathe is an illuminating user-friendly guide to help develop conscious strategies and habits to master our health and energy.

Through compelling real-life stories, the symptoms and causes of burnout are…


Book cover of A Manual for Being Human

Kate Moyle Author Of The Science of Sex: Every Question About Your Sex Life Answered

From my list on thinking about sex and relationships differently.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been fascinated by what makes people tick. Why people do what they do, how people can experience the same thing so differently, and why certain words like sex can create a shift in how people behave. As a Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist it’s what I’m working on with people every day – and every day is different. My work outside the therapy room, hosting my podcast The Sexual Wellness Sessions and writing my book The Science Of Sex feels ironic in ways – I’m trying to normalise the conversations and break down the taboo so that less people end up in the therapy room feeling like they are the only one struggling.

Kate's book list on thinking about sex and relationships differently

Kate Moyle Why did Kate love this book?

As the title suggests, this book is a manual for the human experience.

Dr. Soph breaks her knowledge and experience out of the therapy room and tackles the themes of how you got here, what’s keeping you here, and how you can move forward. This book just makes so much sense, and gives you the tools to understand and help yourself, and explains concepts like how our brains use shortcuts to make sense of the world; and how this can then show up and influence us.

What I love about this book is that it helps you to question, and to think about what works for you, what doesn’t, and what you want to do about it. 

By Sophie Mort,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Manual for Being Human as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?


THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'Clear, accessible wise advice for modern minds.' Matt Haig

'A Manual for Being Human is the motherlode, enlightening on why you might feel and behave how you do.' The Times

'A truly wonderful, warm and wise one-stop shop for any inquisitive human. Packed full of prompts, practical tips and pep talks that will guide you through any situation.' Emma Gannon

'There is a damn good reason why people are struggling. We are not raised to understand ourselves. In fact, we are raised misunderstanding ourselves and fearing the very thing that makes us, us.' Dr Soph

Do…


Book cover of Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness

Norman Farb Author Of Better in Every Sense: How the New Science of Sensation Can Help You Reclaim Your Life

From my list on overcoming stress and getting unstuck in life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto who studies the social neuroscience of the self and human emotion, with a focus on how biases in self-representation shape emotional reactions that determine well-being. I am particularly interested in how cognitive training practices such as mindfulness meditation and yoga foster resilience against stress, reducing vulnerability to disorders such as depression. I’ve always wished we had better ways of communicating fascinating and important discoveries in neuroscience and mental health to a wider audience, so we combined our teaching experience in the fields of mindfulness, yoga, sports, and clinical psychology to write this book.

Norman's book list on overcoming stress and getting unstuck in life

Norman Farb Why did Norman love this book?

It’s hard for me to explain just how important this book has been in Western culture. Part autobiography, part meditation manual, this book is what popularized the modern mindfulness movement, beginning with Jon’s first forays into teaching ‘secularized’ mindfulness practices in the basement of a medical school building in the late 1970s.

Rather than staying in that basement, Jon’s combination of scientific training, deep commitment to understanding the mechanisms of the mental joy and suffering, and passion for helping others came together to create one of the first and most influential Western meditation training programs: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. This program has been the foundation for decades of scientific research as western culture as come to appreciate the importance of training ourselves for mental health and wellness.

This book is the story of that program, it takes you firsthand through the rationale and practices that have helped so many people, acting…

By Jon Kabat-Zinn,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Full Catastrophe Living as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The landmark work on mindfulness, meditation, and healing, now revised and updated after twenty-five years
 
Stress. It can sap our energy, undermine  our health if we let it, even shorten our lives. It makes us more vulnerable to anxiety and depression, disconnection and disease. Based on Jon Kabat-Zinn’s renowned mindfulness-based stress reduction program, this classic, groundbreaking work—which gave rise to a whole new field in medicine and psychology—shows you how to use medically proven mind-body approaches derived from meditation and yoga to counteract stress, establish greater balance of body and mind, and stimulate well-being and healing. By engaging in these…


Book cover of The Mindful Child: How to Help Your Kid Manage Stress and Become Happier, Kinder, and More Compassionate

Stephanie Bosco-Ruggiero Author Of Adopting Older Children: A Practical Guide to Adopting and Parenting Children Over Age Four

From my list on raising emotionally healthy children.

Why am I passionate about this?

Childhood is a special time but can also be wrought with severe challenges for some children. Children vary in emotional health and resilience, so we must provide extra support to those who struggle. I learned so much from the parents and therapists I interviewed for my book, about their experiences building resilience and emotional health in adopted children. I have a PhD in social work and have worked on federally funded child welfare and child trauma grants. Currently, I am a freelance writer and researcher and teach social policy and research courses at several graduate schools of social work, but my most demanding and rewarding job is being a mom!

Stephanie's book list on raising emotionally healthy children

Stephanie Bosco-Ruggiero Why did Stephanie love this book?

Mindfulness has become a more popular concept in the realm of relaxation training, wellness, spirituality, and health, but many books are focused on adults. Children can also practice mindfulness which is having a reflective stance in daily life including appreciating experiences in the moment, being mindful of how you speak to people and of your relationships, incorporating a meditative element to daily life, and reflecting deeply on experiences and learning from those experiences. The author was involved in developing a mindfulness curriculum for school children which has been deemed quite effective in increasing focus and calm and decreasing discord and behavioral problems among children in the toughest classrooms. Check out this book, then try a book on mindful parenting!

By Susan Kaiser Greenland,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Mindful Child as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mindful Awareness is a widely used stress-reduction technique that works by enabling people to pay closer attention to what is happening within them - thoughts, feelings, emotions - so that they can better understand what is happening to them. In The Mindful Child, Susan Kaiser Greenland extends her internationally known program to children, showing how they can be taught to be kinder and more compassionate to themselves and others.


Book cover of Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment - and Your Life

Edward D. Hess Author Of Own Your Work Journey! The Path to Meaningful Work and Happiness in the Age of Smart Technology and Radical Change

From my list on helping you become your best self.

Why am I passionate about this?

My entire academic life of over 20 years has been focused on how to help people and organizations become their Best Self. I am the author of 15 books. Six of my books were published by Academic Presses: Cambridge University Press; Stanford University Press; and Columbia Business School Publishing. My work has appeared in over 400 global media publications including Fortune magazine, European Business Review, HBR, SHRM, Fast Company, WIRED, Forbes, INC., Huffington Post, Washington Post, Business Week, the Financial Times, CEO World as well as on CNBC Squawk Box, Fox Business News, Big Think, WSJ Radio, Bloomberg Radio with Kathleen Hayes, Dow Jones Radio, MSNBC Radio, Business Insider, and Wharton Radio.

Edward's book list on helping you become your best self

Edward D. Hess Why did Edward love this book?

I love this book. It was the book I used years ago to learn how to do Mindful Meditation which transformed my way of being and enabled me to become a better person and a better learner.

Mindful Meditation taught me how to have a Quiet Mind so I could really listen to others and learn from others. I started out doing Mindful Meditation 3-5 minutes a day. It was hard. But I kept at it improving to 10 minutes then to 20 minutes then to 30 -40 minutes a day.

I learned how to be still and fully present. It helped me build better relationships with others. It is a key building block for Inner Peace.

By Jon Kabat-Zinn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mindfulness for Beginners as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An Invitation to the Practice of Mindfulness

We may long for wholeness, suggests Jon Kabat-Zinn, but the truth is that it is already here and already ours. The practice of mindfulness holds the possibility of not just a fleeting sense of contentment, but a true embracing of a deeper unity that envelops and permeates our lives. With Mindfulness for Beginners you are invited to learn how to transform your relationship to the way you think, feel, love, work, and play-and thereby awaken to and embody more completely who you really are.

Here, the teacher, scientist, and clinician who first demonstrated…


Book cover of Humor and the Health Professions: The Therapeutic Use of Humor in Health Care

Allen Klein Author Of The Healing Power of Humor: Techniques for Getting Through Loss, Setbacks, Upsets, Disappointments, Difficulties, Trials, Tribulations, and All That Not-So-Funny Stuff

From my list on therapeutic humor & laughter.

Why am I passionate about this?

Allen Klein is the world’s only “Jollytologist®”. Through his books, workshops, and keynote speeches, for the past 30-plus years, he has been showing audiences worldwide how to use humor and positivity to deal with life’s not-so-funny stuff. He is a pioneer in the therapeutic humor field and a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. Comedian Jerry Lewis has said that Klein is “a noble and vital force watching over the human condition.”

Allen's book list on therapeutic humor & laughter

Allen Klein Why did Allen love this book?

Another pioneer in the therapeutic humor field: this one written for the health professions. In spite of that, any reader can get a lot from this book. It introduces the benefits of humor not only as a healing tool for the patient, but as a stress management tool for the health professional as well. Certainly, any reader dealing with stress can benefit from the coping characteristics of humor.

By Vera Robinson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Humor and the Health Professions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Extensive coverage of humor in interpersonal relationships, patient education and the work environment greatly enhance the value of this book to all health care professionals. Humor and the Health Professions introduces the benefits of humor not only as a healing tool for the patient, but as a stress management tool for the health professional as well.


Book cover of Mindful Games: Sharing Mindfulness and Meditation with Children, Teens, and Families
Book cover of Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children
Book cover of Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents)

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Interested in stress management, emotions, and mindfulness?

Emotions 167 books
Mindfulness 126 books