Books on Raising Sons

Parenting styles are vast and diverse, but if you believe there could be a difference between raising boys and raising girls, you might be interested in recently published books that focus specifically on what it's like to raise a son. Whether you are in need of advice for parenting a toddler or a teen, you need not look any further than an online bookstore or the shelves of your local bookseller for options.

  1. Boys and Society

    • In the pages of a book called "Swagger: 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys in an Era of Failing Schools, Mass Joblessness, and Thug Culture," author Lisa Bloom warns readers about boys' declining graduation rates and increasing rates of incarceration and unemployment, partially caused by popular culture promoting "false bravado." In "Swagger," Bloom offers parents ways to counter the forces of popular culture. One of her top solutions? Reading. In another book that urges readers toward authenticity, "Teach Your Children Well," author and psychologist Madeline Levine acknowledges that every parent wants what's best for her son but says sometimes parents ditch joy and authenticity in favor of an unrelenting pursuit of perfection. Levine aims to teach readers how to shift their focus from externally defined measures of success, toward raising boys who have an intrinsic sense of purpose, a genuine connectedness with others and a sense of well-being.

    Faith-Based Books

    • "God's Wisdom for Little Boys" by Jim and Elizabeth George is a poetic guide for parents and boys. Its rhythmic prose encourages young boys to be "helpful at home with a cheerful heart," and wisely and truthfully "follow God's ways." A faith-based guide for parents of older boys, "From Father to Son: Showing Your Boy How to Walk with Christ" by Chap Clark, is a book that the author wrote for fathers to read and discuss with other fathers raising sons in a Christian home. The goal, according to the author, is to create an "environment for lifelong faith." The book aims to serve as a tool for fathers as they guide their sons in an ongoing relationship with Christ.

    A Developmental Approach

    • Your son's needs will change as he grows and progresses through normal stages of development. The authors of "Wild Things," Stephen James and David Thomas, aim to guide readers through five stages of a boy's development while offering suggestions for parents about how to raise their sons. Though society might want to "tame" a boy's hunger, or "wildness," the authors insist that boys don't need to be controlled -- they need to be understood. Similarly, the authors of "Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys," Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson, want readers to know that boys can be highly energetic, and that's normal -- parents and teachers should be careful not to shame boys for their physicality. Boys have an internal emotional life, too -- they just don't always know how to express their feelings, especially their "not masculine" feelings, as eloquently as girls. The authors warn readers against parenting boys as if they don't feel the full range of emotions.

    A Dose of Humor

    • In "How Do You Tuck In a Superhero? And Other Delightful Mysteries of Raising Boys," author and mother of five sons, Rachel Balducci, relies on humor to raise her sons and takes you through her life of "flying projectiles and sailing basketballs," a boy's desire to wear the same sports jersey day after day, and the challenges of feeding boys who long for "insane quantities" of food. Sharon O'Donnell, author of "House of Testosterone: One Mom's Survival in a Household of Males," also writes a tongue-in-cheek guide for "mothers and wives out there who live in a constant quandary trying to figure out the sons and husbands in their lives."

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