Here are 100 books that Body Happy Kids fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’m a Rutgers professor of psychology and a body image scientist. Growing up, I was a dancer and learned to be dissatisfied with my body at a young age. These concerns inhabited so much mental space during my adolescence that I ultimately began to study these issues in college as a way to better understand myself and others who had similar experiences. I’ve been doing research on body image and eating behaviors for over 25 years now and write books about these topics to help other kids and adults who may be struggling with these issues. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we all felt comfortable in our own skin?
I love this book for the personal stories. Virginia is a journalist who has written about health issues for over a decade (i.e., not a psychologist or nutritionist). She knows how to engage readers while teaching them a ton of valuable information about raising kids to have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies.
Virginia is unafraid to challenge the status quo and get readers to think differently about essential topics beyond parenting.
Change the way you talk about food, weight, and self-worth, forever.
We live in a world designed to make us hate our bodies. By the time children start school, most have learned that 'fat' is bad. As they get older, many pursue thinness to survive in a society that ties their value to their size. Parents worry both about the risks of their kids fixating on unrealistic beauty…
I’m a Rutgers professor of psychology and a body image scientist. Growing up, I was a dancer and learned to be dissatisfied with my body at a young age. These concerns inhabited so much mental space during my adolescence that I ultimately began to study these issues in college as a way to better understand myself and others who had similar experiences. I’ve been doing research on body image and eating behaviors for over 25 years now and write books about these topics to help other kids and adults who may be struggling with these issues. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we all felt comfortable in our own skin?
I love that this book is written by a psychologist, registered dietitian, and physician. This combination of expertise provides the basis for a well-researched and multifaceted approach for any adult interested in helping kids develop positive body images.
I especially appreciate that this book takes a strong anti-diet stance while offering strategies for families to develop a peaceful relationship with food.
In a world fraught with diet-culture and weight stigma, many parents worry about their child's relationship with their body and food. This down-to-earth guide is an invaluable resource allowing parents to take proactive actions in promoting a friendship with food, and preventative actions to minimize the risk factors for the development of eating disorders, particularly when early signs of disordered eating, excessive exercise, or body dissatisfaction have been noticed. It provides clear strategies and tools with a practical focus to gently encourage parents and teens to have a healthy relationship with food and exercise by centralizing joy and health. Coming…
I’m a Rutgers professor of psychology and a body image scientist. Growing up, I was a dancer and learned to be dissatisfied with my body at a young age. These concerns inhabited so much mental space during my adolescence that I ultimately began to study these issues in college as a way to better understand myself and others who had similar experiences. I’ve been doing research on body image and eating behaviors for over 25 years now and write books about these topics to help other kids and adults who may be struggling with these issues. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we all felt comfortable in our own skin?
One of the things that I love about Sumner and Amee’s book is their strong social justice mindset. They’re thinking about how to parent kids who are satisfied with their bodies and have a healthy relationship with food, but they also keep the broader context in mind with everything they write.
Our culture has many disordered aspects when it comes to how we talk about bodies, health, and wellness. I was extra pleased that this book doesn’t make you feel like a failure as a parent (as so many parenting books seem to).
They have a lot of compassion for parents and appreciate that feeding kids is hard and what most adults have been taught is wrong (but it’s not their fault!)
With the wisdom of Intuitive Eating, a manifesto for parents to help them reject diet culture and raise the next generation to have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies.
Kids are born intuitive eaters. Well-meaning parents, influenced by the diet culture that surrounds us all, are often concerned about how to best feed their children. Nearly everyone is talking about what to do about the childhood obesity epidemic. Meanwhile, every proposed solution for how to feed kids to promote health and prevent weight-related health concerns don’t mention the importance of one thing: a healthy relationship with food. The…
I’m a Rutgers professor of psychology and a body image scientist. Growing up, I was a dancer and learned to be dissatisfied with my body at a young age. These concerns inhabited so much mental space during my adolescence that I ultimately began to study these issues in college as a way to better understand myself and others who had similar experiences. I’ve been doing research on body image and eating behaviors for over 25 years now and write books about these topics to help other kids and adults who may be struggling with these issues. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we all felt comfortable in our own skin?
I love this book’s focus on mothers and daughters. Although people of all genders experience body image concerns, and parenting children of all genders is unquestionably challenging, I found comfort in Amelia’s exploration of the mother-daughter relationship.
I love her Intentional Feeding Mindset and the gentle way she helps mothers see that they can help instill confidence and resilience in their daughters. As she reminds us, having a female body can be incredibly confusing in our culture, and growing up, learning how to care for that body is essential.
RAISE A DAUGHTER WHO NEVER HAS TO "HEAL" HER RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD!
★ Endorsed by experts, this thoughtful guide gives you everything you need to raise a girl who feels confident about eating and her body, now and as she grows.
Diet-Proof is both the trusted friend and expert you need when it comes to making sure your daughter can eat with ease and feel at peace with her body, shape, and weight, now and throughout her life! Using a unique, five-pillar framework (called the Intentional Feeding Mindset), the author helps you incorporate non-diet approaches to healthy eating and wellness…
I’ve researched children’s digital lives since the internet first arrived in many people’s homes. Recently, I noticed parents’ concerns weren’t listened to – mostly, researchers interview parents to find out about their children rather than about parents themselves. Worse, policymakers often make decisions that affect parents without consulting them. So, in Parenting for a Digital Future we focused on parents, following my previous books on Children and the Internet and The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age. As a professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, I love that moment of knocking on a family’s door, and am always curious to see what I will find!
One of the questions I am most often asked by parents and the public is – is it OK to share pictures of my children online? (Other questions, by the way, are – at what age can my child get their own mobile phone? And how much screen time is too much? See my book for my answers).
The extraordinary amount of photos of children that are shared online from before their birth and every step of the way to adulthood – is simply unprecedented. And while these photos can give a lot of pleasure to family and friends, there’s so much that can go wrong.
I find it fascinating that Stacey Steinberg approaches this topic as an attorney and she really digs into the legal issues about privacy, legal redress, and children’s rights. At the same time, she’s super practical and parents can learn a lot about how to…
Is it okay to share details about my child's life on social media? What kinds of pictures should I avoid posting? Am I taking away my kids' ownership over their future online footprint? It has never been easier to share our lives online-from meals to selfies and relationship statuses to locations, information about our daily activities flows freely. But what about our right to share our kids' lives? In today's age of "sharenting", striking the right balance between engaging in online communities and respecting a child's privacy and safety can be difficult. In Growing Up Shared, Stacey Steinberg, law professor,…
I’m a child psychologist, mother of three, and parenting writer who reads way too much parenting content. My personal mission is to be a voice of science-based, compassionate, and realistic parenting guidance to counteract the pitfalls of modern parenting advice. As a psychologist, I know much of this advice lacks good science and even common sense. As a mother, I find a majority of parenting advice oppressive in its unrealistic expectations and a source of unnecessary guilt, shame, and feelings of failure—especially for mothers. I love highlighting the work of other parenting experts who share my mission: to empower and uplift parents with good information and authentic support.
Dr. Schonbrun turns the whole idea of work-life conflict on its head by reframing this tension not as a conflict of roles but as an opportunity for these roles to enrich each other with the science of work-life enrichment.
Basically, I discovered that being a parent can help me be better at my jobs and my work can help me be a better parent. Life-changing!
From each chapter, I got tips for how to work on my thoughts and behaviors to make this shift. I loved the book’s combination of ancient philosophy, current science, and real-life stories. Reading this changed my whole way of thinking about how to be a present mom and an ambitious professional.
Twelve practical strategies to experience more joy and feel less guilt as a working parent, drawn from ACT, the groundbreaking therapy technique that has helped countless people.
Dr. Yael Schonbrun calls out the myth of the work-life balance and offers practical strategies that can help us reframe our approach to working and parenting from the inside out. Based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), these strategies won’t create more hours in the day, but they can shift how we label our experiences, revise the stories we tell…
I’m a child psychologist, mother of three, and parenting writer who reads way too much parenting content. My personal mission is to be a voice of science-based, compassionate, and realistic parenting guidance to counteract the pitfalls of modern parenting advice. As a psychologist, I know much of this advice lacks good science and even common sense. As a mother, I find a majority of parenting advice oppressive in its unrealistic expectations and a source of unnecessary guilt, shame, and feelings of failure—especially for mothers. I love highlighting the work of other parenting experts who share my mission: to empower and uplift parents with good information and authentic support.
I loved this book because Reber makes it all about the parent in service of an easier parenting experience. And she takes on what can be a highly stressful and isolating parenting experience – raising neurodivergent kids.
This book is for parents who feel like parenting experts don’t “get it.” I felt so understood and supported while also learning some fundamental ways to better care for myself while also understanding my children better.
It's time to say no to trying to fit square-peg kids into round holes, and yes to raising them from a place of acceptance and joy. A how-to, a manifesto, and a wise and reassuring companion for parents of neuroatypical children, who often feel that they have no place to turn, Differently Wired offers 18 paradigm-shifting ideas-what the author calls "tilts"-that will change everything, including how to Get Out of Isolation and Connect, how to Help Your Kids Embrace Self-Discovery, and how to Show Up and Live in the Present. And through theses "tilts," how to stay open, pay attention,…
Throughout my teen years, I heard the narrative that mothers are powerless doormats who should be doing something better with their lives. But in time, I realized motherhood is a position of profound power. And I knew that the prevailing messaging on motherhood needed to change! As an author, speaker, and policy advisor for an NGO at the United Nations, I have spent the past 10 years inspiring women to embrace their potential—including their irreplaceable roles as mothers. I have a degree in English, but my finest education came from raising my four college-age daughters and my one young son. Mothers are miraculous!
This is the most impactful book on motherhood I’ve ever read. It is filled with compelling data supporting what most people already know: Moms are important to their children. The book opened my eyes to WHY mothers are crucial to the early cognitive, emotional, and social development of their babies and how a mother’s impact can last a lifetime.
Erica Komisar is a rockstar in her field with over 25 years in private practice and has a wealth of wisdom to share about the most important job in the world: Mom. I think this is an ideal baby shower gift, but even old moms can benefit from reading it. In my opinion, no mom should face motherhood without this book in her back pocket!
A powerful look at the importance of a mother’s presence in the first years of life
**Featured in The Wall Street Journal, and seen on Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, and CBS New York**
In this important and empowering book, veteran psychoanalyst Erica Komisar explains why a mother's emotional and physical presence in her child's life--especially during the first three years--gives the child a greater chance of growing up emotionally healthy, happy, secure, and resilient.
In other words, when it comes to connecting with your baby or toddler, more is more.
Compassionate and balanced, and focusing on the emotional…
I’m a philosopher and bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University, where I teach students and conduct scholarship mainly for my colleagues and policymakers. But my popular writing is driven by the belief that many of the things I find interesting to think and write about are interesting not because I’m an academic—but because I’m a human, and so it’s likely that other humans would find them interesting too. So, while I enjoy dissecting esoteric scholarship as much as the next professor, my passion is exploring important ideas in a format that everyone can enjoy. This has been the goal of my first two books and will hopefully be the goal of many more.
This book is a bit of a gut punch, as it’s asking one of the hardest questions for those of us who are parents: how do we raise our kids in this scary, modern world? The heart of the dilemma buried in this question is that we want to do everything we can for our kids, but in a world of dwindling resources, spending so many of them and passing on as much privilege as we can feels like trying to best position our children on a sinking ship.
While I have come to terms with the idea that I ought to sacrifice my own interests in the name of calming a world on fire, it’s quite something else to realize that perhaps I ought to sacrifice some interests of the person whom I love most in the world—that perhaps they’re not entitled to everything I want to give them.…
Being parents and being human: building hope for our children in a fragile world.
Environmental catastrophes, pandemics, antibiotic resistance, institutionalized injustice, and war: in a world so out of balance, what does it take—or even mean—to be a good parent? This book is one woman’s search for an answer, as a moral philosopher, activist, and mother.
Drawing on the insights of philosophy and the experience of parent activists, Elizabeth Cripps calls for parents to think radically about exactly what we owe our children—and everyone else. She shows how our children’s needs are inseparable from the fate of the earth and…
I’m a child psychologist, mother of three, and parenting writer who reads way too much parenting content. My personal mission is to be a voice of science-based, compassionate, and realistic parenting guidance to counteract the pitfalls of modern parenting advice. As a psychologist, I know much of this advice lacks good science and even common sense. As a mother, I find a majority of parenting advice oppressive in its unrealistic expectations and a source of unnecessary guilt, shame, and feelings of failure—especially for mothers. I love highlighting the work of other parenting experts who share my mission: to empower and uplift parents with good information and authentic support.
I love Wenner Moyer’s warmth and humor interwoven with good old-fashioned science about how to parent kids to be decent human beings.
I devoured the book on Kindle and then immediately bought a hard copy so I could easily pull it off the shelf for reference. And I often do.
She is the furthest from preachy or self-righteous while giving rationales and tips for how to raise empathic kids who aren’t racist, sexist, or completely self-absorbed. It’s a must for every parent’s bookshelf.
As featured in The Guardian, How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes is a clear, actionable, sometimes humorous (but always science-based) guide for parents on how to shape their kids into honest, kind, generous, confident, independent, and resilient people . . . who just might save the world one day.
As an award-winning science journalist, Melinda Wenner Moyer was regularly asked to investigate and address all kinds of parenting questions: how to potty train, when and whether to get vaccines, and how to help kids sleep through the night. But as Melinda's children grew, she found that one huge area…
