The following books on parenting have been reviewed for the Harried Parent's Book Club. They are sorted by Guide Rating, with five stars being best.
1. Breakthrough Parenting for Children With Special Needs
Cover image courtesy of Judy Winter
Winter combines her talents for journalism and parenting in a book that is part inspiration, part how-to, and wholly optimistic about your family's survival as you take on the challenge of raising a child with special needs. It's a particularly useful guide to those just starting out on the journey of dealing with special needs, and hearing from everybody that it's too hard and their life is over and their situation is tragic. Breakthrough Parenting offers a much-needed antidote to all that gloom and doom. 5 Stars
2. The Challenging Child
Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber
What's really going on when a child is sensitive, self-absorbed, defiant, inattentive, active or aggressive? Dr. Stanley Greenspan, in his wonderfully reassuring way, describes the bundle of neurological, sensory, and developmental factors that combine to create those troubling types -- and how you can play your way through. 5 Stars
3. The Child With Special Needs: Encouraging Intellectual and Emotional Growth
Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber
The book cover promises a "comprehensive approach to developmental challenges including autism, PDD, language and speech problems, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, ADD, and other related disorders." That's a tall order -- but this book more than fills it. Just about any child would benefit from the sort of intensive parenting play described here. 5 Stars
4. The Explosive Child
Cover image courtesy of PriceGrabber
"Children will do well if they can." That's the philosophy behind this helpful behavior book, which then seeks to figure out why some kids can't. In this case, author Ross W. Greene looks at those children who seem unable to change their behavior even in the face of all reason, parental urging and dire consequences. Are they willful? Oppositional? Or just stuck? 5 Stars
5. Steps to Independence
Cover image courtesy of Brookes Publishing Co.
Showing kids how to do things for themselves is a nice idea, but it's so much easier to just do it for them. This is a book that teaches parents how to teach their children well, with step-by-step instructions on how to help kids learn to do everything from shoe-tying to home repair. 5 Stars
6. Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach
Cover image courtesy of Howard Glasser
If you've heard of "positive discipline" but wondered how on earth to do it, this is the book that can show you. The Nurtured Heart Approach involves bombarding kids with positive statements, while treating misbehavior with unemotional time-outs. A credit system adds more positive feedback. You may be surprised how well it works. 5 Stars
7. Parenting Children With Health Issues
Cover image courtesy of Love and Logic
It's bad enough when misbehavior involves tantrums and lying and disrespect. When it involves skipping medication and avoiding treatments, it reaches a whole new degree of difficulty. The normal rules of Love and Logic parenting get tweaked here to accommodate the heightened stakes that come with chronic illness, and empower parents to create kids who can really take care of themselves. 4.5 Stars
8. Connected Parenting
Cover image courtesy of Avery
I'm a big believer in positive behavior support, and accutely aware of how wimpy it looks on paper. While it may seem impossibly soft and child-coddling to those raised to fear and obey, techniques like Connected Parenting are the ones you come to when you hit a wall with the tried and true. Stepping back and coming at the problem from a different angle isn't weak, it's smart. And if you're lucky, everybody feels empowered. 4 Stars
9. Divorce and the Special Needs Child
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
A family attorney with personal experience in both divorce and special-needs parenting, author Margaret "Pegi" Price clearly lays out the legal issues involved when the parents of a child with disabilities go to divorce court. Sample documents, checklists, and questionnaires help readers take into account many present and future complications they (and their lawyers inexperienced in special-needs issues) may have failed to consider, and ensure that decisions made now don't create disaster in the future. 4 Stars
10. Helping Children With Complex Needs Bounce Back
Cover image courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
What makes a child resilient? How can we help our challenged children find a happy life, and maybe grab a little bit of that for ourselves? Resilient Therapy™ seeks to identify the elements that lead to resiliency in children and adults, and teach parents how to pass those on. For those stuck in despair, it's a cheerful helping hand; but if you've been adjusting to your child's challenges all along, it may serve as nothing more than an encouraging pat on the back. 4 Stars
