There’s never a shortage of books focused on children’s social and behavioral development. The need for such titles, says Mark Grimes, v-p of publishing at the American Academy of Pediatrics, has less to do with kids themselves and more to do with the world at large: “Children are seeing and responding to the same images that are causing their parents stress—families being separated at the border, mass shootings. It’s important that the books we produce give parents the tools they need to help their children thrive in a world that feels uncertain.”
Grimes cites Damon Korb’s Raising an Organized Child as just such a book; it’s an AAP title that helps parents “foster a safe, nurturing environment within their own home and better prepare their children to deal with whatever they confront outside of it.”
Kristine Enderle, editorial director at the American Psychological Association’s Magination Press, agrees with Grimes that children are increasingly aware of big-picture concerns. “These days, kids are more afraid of and worried about things that worry adults,” she says. Many Magination titles, such as Merriam Sarcia Saunders’s My Whirling Twirling Motor, help parents talk through stressful situations with their kids, “hoping that this will build emotional resiliency and bolster their kid’s physical and mental health in the long run.”
Raising an Organized Child and My Whirling Twirling Motor are among several forthcoming titles aimed at helping parents foster their children’s emotional wellbeing.
Middle School Matters
Phyllis L. Fagell. Da Capo Lifelong, Aug.
Fagell, a licensed clinical and certified school counselor and Washington Post columnist, views the often-overlooked middle school years as a critical stage in a child’s development and a “low-stakes training ground to teach kids the key skills they’ll need to thrive now and in the future,” according to her publisher. Fagell addresses issues including dealing with conflict, regulating emotions, and choosing good friends.
My Whirling Twirling Motor
Merriam Sarcia Saunders, illus. by Tammie Lyon. Magination, Mar.
Licensed marriage and family therapist Saunders’s first picture book follows Charlie, a boy with ADHD. Katherine ten Hagen, the book’s editor, says Motor is about “taking the time to notice what kids do right each day, instead of all the time they spend not listening quite as well as we may hope.” The goal is to build “self-esteem and a support system through encouragement and unconditional love.”
Raising an Organized Child
Damon Korb. AAP, June
Subtitled 5 Steps to Boost Independence, Ease Frustration, and Promote Confidence, this book by behavioral and developmental pediatrician Korb has a straightforward premise: organized children are raised, not born. Grimes says the title not only addresses the kind of organization that means being able to find two matching socks, or remembering to turn in homework, but, more important, it stresses “the executive function and neurodevelopmental abilities that create confident and independent kids.”
The Science of Parenting Adopted Children
Arleta James. Jessica Kingsley, June
Incorporating neuroscience and attachment theory, James, founder and director of Adoption & Attachment Therapy Partners, aims to help parents assist adopted children—many of whom have endured traumatic experiences—in developing socially, emotionally, and morally, and in finding success in and out of the home.
The Stressed Years of Their Lives
B. Janet Hibbs and Anthony Rostain. St. Martin’s, Apr.
When family psychologist Hibbs (Try to See It My Way: Being Fair in Love and Marriage) discovered her college-age son was suffering from depression, she sought help from Rostain, a psychiatrist who focuses much of his work on children and adolescents. Now, the two have teamed up to create a guidebook for parents of college and college-bound students that, according to the publisher, explains “what’s normal, what’s not, and how to intervene before it’s too late.”
21st Century Parenting
Rick Capaldi. Central Recovery, Aug.
In this guide to raising emotionally hardy children, Capaldi, founder of a nonprofit school-based counseling agency in Southern California, offers a new take on the three Rs: he advocates reading children’s environments, regulating their emotional temperatures, and redirecting their behavior.
Under Pressure
Lisa Damour. Ballantine, Feb.
Studies have shown that anxiety among girls has risen dramatically in recent years. Damour—who, in 2016’s Untangled, addressed the normal, if perplexing, developmental stages of teenage girls—here offers strategies that will help parents support anxious daughters. “This is a remarkably thorough and accessible guide for raising girls into strong, independent women,” our review said.
Understanding Teenage Anxiety
Jennifer Browne and Cody Buchanan. Skyhorse, Aug.
Browne (Baby Nosh) and her son Buchanan, who suffered from chronic untreated anxiety during his teen years, draw on personal experiences in this guide for parents dealing with anxious adolescents. They discuss the physical and emotional symptoms of anxiety, self-harm, coping strategies, and more.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated the publication year for Untangled by Lisa Damour.
