Books on Carrying and Touch
Parenting Books
Children's Books
On My Bookshelf

BOOKS ON CARRYING AND TOUCH

Babywearing: The Benefits and Beauty of This Ancient Tradition by Maria Blois, M.D.
A comprehensive guide to the benefits of babywearing. Also features different types of baby carriers, describing how to use them along with their advantages and disadvantages.

Bonding via Baby Carriers: The Art & Soul of the Miao & Dong People by Yu-Chiao Liu Lan, Christi Lan Lin, & brenda Lin
An art book detailing the intricate baby carriers used by the Miao and Dong peoples in China.

The Continuum Concept - Jean Liedloff
An anthropological study of the Yequana tribe of Venezuela led to Jean Liedloff's theory on human development. While some of her interpretations ring off-kilter, Liedloff requires the reader to question the modern fear of spoiling the baby by letting a baby cry it out, sleeping alone and not being carried.

The Vital Touch: How Intimate Contact with Your Baby Leads to Happier, Healthier Development by Sharon Heller
Explores the role of touch in a babies' development, and how we need to create more of a physical contact in order to provide a soothing and nurturing environment.

Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin by Ashley Montague
Infants who bond with their parents the first few years of life are more secure. Montague has written valuable information which is more relevant today than ever. Children and adults both need proper touch and bonding.

Loving Hands: The Traditional Art of Baby Massage by Frederick Leboyer
This book explains the simple but highly effective techniques of baby massage using photographs of Shantala, a young Indian mother.

PARENTING BOOKS

Our Babies, Ourselves - Meredith F. Small
If you only read one parenting book, let this be the one. Anthropology professor Small explores ethnopediatrics, an interdisciplinary science that combines anthropology, pediatrics, and child development research in order to examine how child-rearing styles across cultures affect the health and survival of infants. Small describes the different parenting styles of several cultures, including (but not limited to) the nomadic Ache tribe of Paraguay, the agrarian Kung San society of the Kalahari Desert in Africa, and the American industrialized society.

The Baby Book by William and Martha Sears
In their excellent (and hefty) resource guide, attachment parenting specialists William Sears and Martha Sears have provided new parents with their approach to every aspect of baby care basics, from newborns to toddlers. They describe responding to baby's cues, breastfeeding, "wearing" your baby, and co-sleeping with your child and much, much more.

The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley
If you are looking for a book to help baby to sleep better through the night, then I strongly recommend this book. Pantley's suggestions help baby and parents get a good night’s sleep without abandoning the infant and without any tears - neither mums nor baby's.

The Aware Baby - Aletha J. Solthers
The author discusses the attachment needs of infants, which are best met by close physical contact, breast-feeding, and prompt responsiveness to crying. At the core of her philosophy is the concept of crying as tension release, with the emphasis that babies should always be held when they cry. This book will teach you how to, bond with your infant, respond to your baby's crying, enhance your baby's intelligence, help your baby sleep better, find alternatives to punishment and raise your child to be non-violent.

Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer
Bauer has written a unique parenting guide that shows contemporary mothers and fathers how to practically incorporate this knowledge into their daily nurturing, with or without diapers. This warm comprehensive book with over 45 photos clearly outlines the benefits, the practice, and solutions to potential challenges. The author interweaves personal experience with medical research, cross-cultural examples, extensive practical how-to support, and parents' stories. Her empathic writing style brims with encouragement and insightful parenting support.

The Natural Child: Parenting By The Heart by Jan Hunt
These passionate essays repeatedly state: All children behave as well as they are treated. She convincingly conveys how parents can compassionately respond to their children.

Magical Child - Joseph Chilton Pearce
Pearce discusses the phases every child goes through as it matures. Pearce describes that there is a time for everything, and we need to support the child's natural unfolding as much as we can. This means not 'abandoning' the infant in the crib, not pushing the pre-schooler to learn to read, limiting television viewing and encouraging fantasy and play.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

A Ride on Mother's Back: A Day of Baby Carrying Around theWorld by Emery & Durga Bernhard

Backpack Baby by Miriam Cohen

Say Hi, Backpack Baby! by Miriam Cohen

Wah-Wah! A Backpack Baby Story by Miriam Cohen

Mine! A Back pack Baby Story by Miriam Cohen

What Baby Needs by William Sears, M.D., Martha Sears, R.N., & Christie Watts Kelly

ON MY BOOKSHELF

There's A Good Girl by Marianne Grabrucker

The Mother Trip: Hip Mama's Guide to Staying Sane in the Chaos of Motherhood by Ariel Gore

The Big Rumpus: A Mother's Tale From the Trenches by Ayun Halliday

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

Kids: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Raise Our Children by Meredith F. Small

Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

Her Blue Body: Everything We Know by Alice Walker

One Hand Clapping: Zen Stories For All Ages by Rafe Martin

A Child is Born by Lennart Nilsson and Lars Hamberger

A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry Edited by Ann Hostetler

The Whole World Guide to Culture Learning by J. Daniel Hess

Everyday Acts & Small Subversions: Women Reinventing Family, Community and Home by Anndee Hochman

All About Love by bell hooks

The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs

Living More with Less by Doris Janzen Longacre

Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution by Adrienne Rich

The Plug-in Drug by Marie Winn

What Mothers Do: Especially When It Looks Like Nothing by Naomi Stadlen

In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens by Alice Walker

Anything We Love Can Be Saved by Alice Walker

The Way Forward Is With A Broken Heart by Alice Walker

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

The Long Distance Grandmother: How To Stay Close To Distant Grandchildren by Selma Wassermann