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When I got married and started having children, I filled my mind with helpful marriage and parenting techniques. I read avidly about the subject, wanting to be the best wife and mother I could. Below, I share the 12 must-have parenting books I recommend adding to your library.

Ever since I was a child, I have been an avid reader. I enjoyed being read to when I was a toddler. The Saggy Baggy Elephant and The Little Engine that Could were two of my favorites. I can remember being in first or second grade, reading Ramona Quimby, Age 8 during free reading time. As I entered middle school and then high school, I read for entertainment. I was never bored. There was always another world out there for me to discover and characters to befriend. Fiction was a passion of mine. And so was writing.

Then I went to college, and while my studies required reading, I no longer read much fiction. I did, however, enjoy the occasional magazine.

While we can learn a lot about life from fiction novels, we can learn so much more from nonfiction books about the topics we’re currently experiencing in life. I believe it’s important to pursue knowledge and to understand relationships by reading what other people have experienced. Parenting books included.

12 Must-Read Parenting Books

1. Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp

“This shepherding process is a richer interaction than telling your child what to do and think. It involves investing your life in your child in open and honest communication that unfolds the meaning and purpose of life.” (p. xxi)

2. The Way They Learn: How to Discover and Teach to Your Child’s Strengths by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias

“We, as parents, must first recognize our own natural learning styles. As we recognize how we learn new information, we can better understand what comes naturally to us and our children, and can identify the differences between parents and children that cause frustration and misunderstanding.” (p. 20)

3. Personality Plus for Parents: Understanding What Makes Your Child Tick by Florence Littauer

Just as we each have a personality type, so do our children. “Part of being a great parent is understanding and respecting each child’s individuality … so you can best nurture, discipline, and motivate him or her.”

4. Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys by Stephen James & David Thomas

“It’s our job to nurture the nature. Boys need us first to recognize who they are. Then they need the help of wise and committed adults in navigating their way from boyhood to manhood.” (p. xiii)

5. Captivating by John & Staci Eldredge

You may wonder why I have this book on this list. It’s actually written for women. This is what I hope to teach my daughter as she grows into a woman. I want her to know who she is and how God designed her. This isn’t a book teaching about sex. It’s a book teaching about the heart of a woman. It ministered to me in such a way that I highly recommend it not only for you, but for your teen daughters as well.

6. Parenting Teens with Love & Logic by Foster Cline, MD & Jim Fay

“Love means giving your teens opportunities to be responsible and empowering them to make their own decisions. Logic means allowing them to live with the natural consequences of their mistakes and showing empathy for the pain, disappointment, and frustration they’ll experience.”

Note: There is also, Parenting with Love & Logic, for those of you who have smaller children.

7. The Grown-up’s Guide to Teenage Humans: How to Decode Their Behavior, Develop Unshakeable Trust, and Raise a Respectable Adult by Josh Shipp

“Teenagers will test you to see if you, like the lap bar on a roller coaster, will hold. They are testing you and prodding you and pushing you because they need to know, at a time when so many other things are uncertain, that YOU are certain.” (p. 4)

8. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

There’s also The Five Love Languages of Children. I highly recommend at least the general Love Languages books. It’s important to recognize that everyone gives and receives love differently. Once you understand how your child receives love, it will be easier to keep their love tank full.

9. Boundaries with Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

Part of the issue with people today is that we don’t respect one another’s personal boundaries. We invade someone else’s space too often, crossing lines we don’t have a right to cross – whether physically, mentally, or emotionally. There is far too much abuse even within normal families. Think about it: how often does your husband say something that pricks your heart? How often do your kids call one another names or get into fisticuffs? This book helps establish appropriate boundaries within relationships. There’s also Boundaries (for adults) by the same authors.

10. 150 Quick Questions to Get Your Kids Talking by Mary E. DeMuth

Have you ever struggled to start a conversation? I do, all the time. This is a great conversation-starting book you can use at the dinner table or in the car on a long trip. Around the campfire on vacation. Includes questions such as: What is the one thing you wish you knew how to do really well? If we had extra money this year, how would you like us to spend it?

11. The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian

Specific prayers you can pray over your child, along with Scripture verses to accompany the topics being prayed. “Being a perfect parent doesn’t matter. Being a praying parent does.”

12. While My Child Is Away: My Prayers for When We Are Apart by Edie Melson

“The most powerful thing you can do for your child is to pray. Sometimes, the only thing you can do for your child is pray, and that is enough.”

This is a book of prayers from a mother’s heart for her children, secured with Scriptures. It covers a variety of topics. As a child whose mother prayed her home from an abusive relationship during her early 20s, I can attest to how powerful a mother’s prayers can be. I’m thankful for the prayers of my mother, and I highly recommend this book as a tool for you to use as you pray for your own children. While they’re home OR away.

I hope you find some new parenting books in the list above. These are my all-time favorite parenting books from my personal library. I highly recommend them all. Each one has many nuggets of wisdom within their pages.

If you could add a parenting book to the list, which one would you recommend? Let us know why it impacted your parenting so much that you’d recommend it. We can’t wait to hear from you in the comments below!