We’re dedicated to providing you with real advice and recommendations for current books on the market. That’s why one of our providers reads a new book every month and we host a Staff Book Club to review those books and share the pros, cons, and overall recommendations. Check out our recommended books and your pediatricians’ book review below!

Infants and Toddlers
Creative Resources for Infants & Toddlers – Judy Herr & Terri Swim
It’s No Accident: Breakthrough Solutions to Your Child’s Wetting, Constipation, UTIs, and Other Potty Problems – Steve Hodges & Suzanne Schlosberg (Book review below)
The Magic Years: Understanding and Handling the Problems of Early Childhood – Selma Fraiberg
Making the Terrible Twos Terrific – John Rosemond
Toddler Taming – Christopher Green
1,2,3 Magic – Thomas W. Phelan (Book review below)

Children
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk – Adele Faber (Book review below)
Caring for Your School-Aged Child: Ages 5-12 – American Academy of Pediatrics
Setting Limits: How to Raise Responsible, Independent Children by Providing Clear Boundaries – Robert J. Mackenzie
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character – Paul Tough
Teaching Your Child the Language of Social Success – Marshall P. Duke
Building Resilience in Children and Teens – Kenneth R. Ginsburg
Changing Problem Behavior in Schools – Alex Molnar & Barbara Lindquist
When Someone You Love Has Cancer: A Guide to Help Kids Cope – Alaric Lewis (Book review below)
The Whole Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel Siegel, M.D, and Tina Payne Bryson, PHD (Book review below)
Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age – Yalda T. Uhls, PhD (Book review below)

Adolescents
Caring for Your Teenager: The Complete and Authoritative Guide – American Academy of Pediatrics
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens – Sean Covey
How to Raise and Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success – Julie Lythcott-Haims
Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding your Teen through College Admissions – Kenneth R. Ginsburg & Marilee Jones
10 Talk Parents Must Have with their Children about Sex and Character – Pepper Schwartz & Dominic Cappello
The Confidence Code for Girls – by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman (Book review below)

Puberty
It’s Not the Stork! A Book about Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families & Friends – Robie H. Harris (ages 4-8)
The Care and Keeping of You (American Girl) – Valorie Schaefer (ages 8+)
The Care and Keeping of You 2: Body Book for Older Girls – Cara Natterson (ages 10+)
The Guide, Period – Naama Bloom (ages 10-14) (Book review below)
It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health – Robie H. Harris (ages 10-14)
Boy’s Guide to Becoming a Teen – American Medical Association (ages 9-11)
Boy’s Body Book: Everything You Need to Know – Kelli Dunham (ages 9-12)

Reviews

1,2,3 Magic by Thomas W. Phelan, M.D.

  • Review provided by Natalia Darling, PA-C. This is a great book for parents who are struggling to establish an effective and concise way of disciplining their child or children or whose children are becoming so out of control that they are “running the house”. The method/system they present is easy to learn and enact and has been around and proven effective for many years. This book has focused sections on many challenge areas including discipline in public, sibling rivalry, going to sleep and staying in bed, homework, and chores. What we love about this book is that it is easy to read, simple discipline method to enact, dedicated sections and chapters for specific challenging situations, and the scenarios and comics are interspersed to keep the reader’s interest. The book is repetitive and unnecessarily wordy but overall if you’re struggling with discipline this is a great book to pick-up. Click here to purchase.

It’s No Accident: Breakthrough Solutions to Your Child’s Wetting, Constipation, UTIs, and Other Potty Problems by Steve Hodges & Suzanne Schlosberg

  • Review provided by Dr. Caren Glassman. Increasingly, we are seeing children with these various issues and our experience aligns with Dr. Hodges: there are a lot of kids who are withholding urine and stool and therefore experiencing wetting, infections and the like. This book is a quick read and within a few chapters, you will know if he is describing your child. He offers a full explanation of how to fix these issues, many of which we endorse, but check with us prior to starting any drastic regimens. Towards the end of the book, Dr. Hodges discusses his opinion as to why these problems are epidemic. I found his take on supervising the newly toilet trained toddler to be an interesting idea. Any parent who has wondered if their child’s accidents are due to a child’s misbehavior should read this book! Click here to purchase.

How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

  • Review provided by Dr. Jeremy Fishelberg. This book is fantastic. It should be required reading for all parents with young children and adolescents. It is written in a very accessible way with practical examples, anecdotes, and testimonials. There are exercises and activities for the reader to encourage you to think about what you’re reading and how it applies to your children and your parenting. It is easy and enjoyable reading with excellent reminders and summaries to keep all of the useful tools you’re learning fresh in your mind. I loved reading this book and have put it to great use with my own children. Click here to purchase.

The Guide, Period by Naama Bloom

  • Review provided by Dr. Heather Davies. A new release explaining everything puberty to the modern girl. The founder of Helloflo, Ms. Bloom delivers an honest, nonsugar-coated, guide for girls discussing topics from body hair and its removal to menstruation and sanitary options to brain changes that affect decision making, and everything in between. This book does a beautiful job reassuring girls that they are not alone in what they are experiencing and that they are normal. While this book does not discuss reproduction, it is written to a level appropriate for middle school readers and above who have already been introduced to basic puberty concepts. It would not be our first choice as a girl’s introduction to the concepts of puberty and menstruation. The book has medically accurate, up to date information that our girls need to know. And quite honestly, many moms might even learn a thing or two from reading this book! Click here to purchase.

The Whole Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel Siegel, M.D, and Tina Payne Bryson, PHD

  • Review provided by Dr. Hasita Patel. This is a great read as it seamlessly connects the science of the brain to real-life applications for your family. It helps one understand the different aspects of brain development and then explains how to use the whole brain to relate to your child. It can at times be a tad bit more scientific, but they use easy-to-understand language and by the end of each chapter, the authors do a great job connection strategies discussed to real-life examples. They even have illustrations and suggestions on how to talk to your kids about how the brain and body works (which was one of my favorite parks the book!). The end of the book has a ‘refrigerator cheat sheet’ and an ‘ages and stages’ sheet available to have readily available to use as a resource when a difficult situation arises. The authors emphasize most on nurturing positive growth during the difficult moments when we are just trying to survive- the meltdowns, conflicts, negative feelings, anger, and unexpected traumatic experiences. They provide strategies to develop connections between the emotional and logical brain leading one to be more mindful and aware of one’s feelings. The authors note that it is specifically written for ages birth-12 years, but I feel the information can even be applied in adulthood! After all, development is a life-long process and it may even help your own awareness grow. Click here to purchase.

When Someone You Love Has Cancer: A Guide to Help Kids Cope by Alaric Lewis, and illustrated by R.W. Alley

  • Review provided by Dr. Neha Suri. The new diagnosis of cancer can affect the entire family and household. Whether it be cancer or a chronic medical issue, adults have the ability to process and understand the diagnosis. Younger children can have a tougher time with this. Especially when it comes to a complex diagnosis such as cancer, children can often get lost in the shuffle, can experience, fear, confusions, and guilt and thus resort to misinformed hypotheses and often times self-guilt. This book is great because it emphasizes that children are never too young to understand and in fact keeping them aware, informed, and helping them understand the diagnosis is vital to their development of coping skills. Filled with colorful, detailed illustrations and succinct words of wisdom, this book is a great tool for children ages 12 and younger to help them cope with the presence of cancer in their household and obtain a healthier understanding of what the disease is, and how the disease affects not just them, but their ones and others in their family. It normalizes their emotions and reactions as well as reassures children that it is normal for them to feel sad and angry, to cry, be afraid, and even surprised when they see physical changes in their loved one (hair loss, weight loss, change of color, etc.). Lastly, the author emphasizes that it is also equally important to know that they will be taken care of no matter what happens and that their love for and from their loved one with cancer will never change.

I Have a Question About Death: A Book for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Other Special Needs

  • Review provided by Dr. Caren Glassman. Death and divorce are difficult topics for any parent to explain to any child. All children, but especially children with autism spectrum disorder or other special needs, are concrete thinkers and need support understanding and interpreting emotions. These books provide simple words for complex emotions. They anticipate the questions that all children have an offer parents a language for discussion. No parent is trained in discussing death or divorce with children and they are particularly challenged when their own emotions are running high. These books are a great resource for all children (and many adults). Click here to purchase.

The Confidence Code for Girls by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

  • Review provided by Dr. Shira Weiss. This is a book I will be giving to my “tween” to read. Confidence in middle school can be a struggle for anyone and this book really helps outline how to build your confidence and be true to yourself. It is a great mix of true stories about “regular” girls, quizzes, and activities in order to keep your child’s attention while they are reading. There is even a section on how to navigate screens and use them to boost (rather than diminish) your confidence. The overall theme of risk more + think less + be yourself is powerful and really applies to every age. This would be a great read for any girl entering middle school. Click here to purchase.

Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age by Yalda T. Uhls, PhD

  • Review provided by Dr. Lauren Zohler. Navigating technology can seem daunting at times, particularly to parents. The horror stories about the dangers of the internet are abundant and often lead to misperceptions about the potential dangers of the internet and digital media in general. The digital landscape is always changing and adapting, which often leaves people feeling overwhelmed, and unsure as to how best to utilize it in an appropriate way. Based on scientific research, this guide offers real-life takeaways and actionable steps to traverse this tricky landscape. This book is intended for parents and educators, working with children of all ages. The book is broken down into different sections based on age and type of media (social media, educational uses, etc.). The chapters do not need to be read chronologically, rather allowing parents and educators to skip to the areas of interest, and reserve other sections for when they become appropriate. It was an easy read and provided really sound, helpful information.

Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents need to know to do it once and do it right By: Jamie Glowacki

  • Review provided by Dr. Joseph Mechak. Oh Crap! Potty Training is a witty how-to guide to potty training written by Jamie Glowacki, the self proclaimed ‘pied piper of poop’. She outlines her method of ditching the diapers effectively and efficiently potty training your child in three major sections. First, she outlines the pre-potty training prep, which she argues is no less important than the act itself. She talks you through the signs of readiness, how to introduce the idea to your child, and most importantly your mental prep as parents. The next section is the nuts-and-bolts of potty training. It breaks the exercise into easy to follow blocks with instructions on how to navigate through each step of the process. Finally, she spends over half the book on troubleshooting, breaking through road blocks, and tackling what she surmises is the most common downfall in potty training… poop. Overall the book is easy to follow, funny, and filled with personal anecdotes and advice from Jamie. It lacks much in the way of evidence, science, or the ‘why’ for the more scientific-minded, but makes no egregious claims or obvious medical missteps. In all, there are hundreds of potty training books out there and while this one does not offer anything novel or ground shattering in the potty training world – it’s another solid option that may be the right one for you! Click here to purchase

Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety By: Dr. John Duffy

  • Reviewed by Dr. Hasita Patel. This book is vital for parents to read before your child reaches adolescence! Though we have all been a teenager, Dr. Duffy really emphasizes that to be a teen in today’s age is completely different due to their accessibility to information with technology right at their fingertips. The book is an easy, quick read. With a positive attitude, Dr. Duffy uses real data, studies, and patient encounters to bring light to the issues. He helps you understand the teenager’s point of view but more importantly how to become their compass–someone for them to go to with any emotion and know they will not be judged. He even ends each chapter with a grey box that gives you tools and strategies on how to work on building your relationship with your teenager. I can confidently recommend this book to all caregivers (parents, teachers, providers) as it conveys the much-needed perspective of today’s teenager so that we as a society can communicate more effectively with them. Click here to purchase

I have a Questions about Coronavirus By: Alren Gaines and Meredith Polsky

  • Available as a free digital download, this is the fourth book in the I Have a Question series, which helps children and their caregivers grapple with difficult topics in a straight-forward manner. Designed initially for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other special needs, these books have become a go-to resource for helping ALL children understand challenging life transitions without exacerbating fear and anxiety. View digital download

Can We Play Now By: Meredith Polsky

  • This short picture story is geared towards children 2-5 years, in order to help them understand that even though everyone is home during the Coronavirus Pandemic, their parents still have to work and can’t play all day. View digital download

My School is Closed Today by: Meredith Polsky

  • This story is to help children understand why they can’t go to school during the coronavirus pandemic, without promoting fear and anxiety. View here