Due to the many questionable messages that we receive about parenting, the following booklist is provided. Remember that most public libraries are now linked to a large network of libraries through inter-library loan services, so purchasing these books is not necessary.

The Power of Play by David Elkind (2007) is a wonderful source for putting parents back into a sane and reasonable understanding of children. If you are reading this and saying to yourself that play is not important, this is a book for you!

Other classics by David Elkind

Miseducation:
Preschoolers at Risk. This book discusses the real problems associated with trying to push a curriculum meant for school aged children onto preschoolers as well as inappropriate parenting trends that have developed over the last decades.
The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast, Too Soon
All Grown Up and No Place to Go: Teenagers in Crisis
The Ties that Stress: The New Family Imbalance
Reinventing Childhood: Raising and Educating Children in a Changing World
Parenting Your Teenager (excellent and very easy to follow)

Giving the Love that Heals by Harville Hendrix. Excellent examples of what unconscious parenting is. (His other books on relationships are excellent also.)

Parenting Well in a Media Age by Gloria DeGaetano, founder of the Parent Coach Institute in conjunction with Seattle Pacific University, also provides a wealth of information for parents about the dangers of too much screen time/TV and the developing brain.

On the Web:
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC.org)
Early Years are Learning Years, a series of brief articles for parents on the website:
Helping Young Children Start School
Choosing a Preschool
Helping Toddlers Become Problem Solvers (among many others, search by topic)