Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Shlok's Dad: A Father's Perspective of Parenthood by Vivek Sharma is an engaging book that looks at parenthood from a father's point of view with a humorous and entertaining perspective that will bring a smile to the faces of readers. The author introduces parents to fatherhood based on his personal experiences and life lessons learned. The book is a light read for parents, wannabe parents, and unsure parents to smile over the same kind of experiences they share while watching their offspring grow up. Reading the book is also a good way to revive nostalgic memories over losing their hair, sleep, stuff, hair, and teeth. The author also expects the book to serve as a legacy for his son when it is time for him to become a father.

Shlok's Dad is heartwarming and Vivek Sharma's sense of humor and the universal language of parenthood are palpable to readers as they go through the book. The author is vocal and expressive about the topic and gives readers glimpses of his personal stories and experiences, and he also shares useful parenting tips. Many personal stories will resonate with parents, and the author speaks of how becoming a father has left him in a daze, a feeling many fathers will be able to relate with. The book gives a sense of elation to all parents as they connect with the author's words and see images of their fatherhood in there. The style of writing is simple and funny which makes the book an enjoyable read.

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month To Month by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is a handy manual that gives information on pregnancy medically in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. The information in the book is up-to-date, and the chapters on each month of pregnancy are helpful to readers who are pregnant and need information on the development of the baby, the changes taking place in the mother's and child's body, and how to manage the discomforts of pregnancy. The tools and techniques shared in the book will help pregnant readers to be in control of their pregnancy. The book can be a trusted resource during pregnancy and the postpartum period, thereby helping to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

The step-by-step information from getting ready to become pregnant till the end of the book is useful and includes details that will guide readers who are pregnant or planning to get pregnant, making it easy for them to go about it in a healthy and confident way. The book also includes postpartum care, feeding the newborn baby, and birth control after pregnancy and beyond, which will be helpful to readers. The book is extensive and expansive on the topic, erasing doubts. Your Pregnancy and Childbirth is a must-have book for pregnant women so that they can use it as a reference during those doubtful moments during their pregnancy on what to do, how to go about it, and also about the monthly progress of the baby. The book covers everything associated with pregnancy and pregnant women will find it helpful, useful, and easy to relate to.

Reviewed by Marie-Hélène Fasquel for Readers' Favorite

Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with Simplicity by Diane Boden is an essential guide to set you on the minimalist journey, whether you are a parent or you are going to be one soon. It is extremely clear and even starts with a section on how to use this book. The author then explains how she became a minimalist and her story is relatable. It helps you envision what you could personally do to improve your life and help heal our planet. We all need to be part of the necessary change in our society in crisis.

Minimalist Moms: Living and Parenting with Simplicity by Diane Boden is a concise and yet comprehensive book on minimalism for moms. It is, however, perfect for everyone and will improve anyone's life. The author not only tackles decluttering but also the reasons why we should declutter and simplify all areas of our lives. The examples are telling, the advice is perfectly sound, the tips and ideas are simple to set up. This is a book I highly recommend if you want to be part of that change we need, if you want to feel freer, if you would like to save time for your family, for yourself. I will definitely keep it handy to refer back to it and give minimalism a try to feel less overwhelmed and more independent actually (as we tend to depend so much on what society expects from us). So let's start small but let's start now.

Reviewed by Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite

Secrets to Parenting Without Giving a F^ck (The Non-Conformist Playbook to Raising Happy Kids Without Public Meltdowns, Power Struggles, & Punishments) by Sue Donnellan is a non-fiction parenting book that would appeal most to a mixed audience of new parents, expectant parents, and parents looking for some guidance. In this book, the author shares the knowledge she gained from being a mother who navigated real parenting challenges with the mind of an unconventional thinker. The book provides ways for parents to avoid punishing and yelling at their children while also causing their child’s behavior to change. The book covers numerous important parenting areas like ways to respond to tantrums, getting rid of back-talk, reducing lying, and many other tips to prevent bad behavior. Are you ready to learn how to raise happy, well-adjusted kids?

Secrets to Parenting Without Giving a F^ck by Sue Donnellan is a very well-written parenting book that offers out-of-the-box strategies and ideas for parenting. As someone looking to become a foster mom in the future, I found the book to be a treasure trove of knowledge. I felt that by reading this book I was able to take a step in the right direction to become a good foster mom and role model before having my first foster child. I really felt like this author knew what she was writing about and was not just offering textbook outdated parenting strategies. Overall, I put down this book with a desire to refer back to it when I do become a foster mom to ensure I can help raise good children.

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Baby Out of Wedlock: Co-Parenting Basics From Pregnancy To Custody by Jim and Jessica Braz is a handy tool that will help millions of new or soon-to-be-mothers or fathers who are not in a conventional marriage. The book will help them go through the nine months of pregnancy or even past birth. The book is about learning rights and responsibilities as unmarried co-parents and making better decisions for the child. The tips in the book are also a good way for parents to understand their parenting rights while doing what is best for their child and provide answers that they are looking for efficiently and straightforwardly. 

Baby Out of Wedlock is filled with advice, and it applies to having a baby out of wedlock, regardless of race or socioeconomic background. The authors also tackle the basic questions about co-parenting relationships, paternity tests, child custody laws, visitation rights, support payments, and much more. The book will give balanced advice on how to get along well with the co-parent for the long term. It is useful for unmarried co-parents to have an effective Parenting Plan without making it to the court. Jim and Jessica Braz handle the subject methodically, making it easy for readers to understand and apply the suggestions in their personal lives if they find themselves in this situation. Pregnancy without marriage can be a daunting experience and the suggestions offered will give confidence to readers for their baby-out-of-wedlock story. It is definitely a book that will give readers good information on the basics of co-parenting without making it difficult and complicated.

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

More and more children are facing neurological disorientation. Why is My Kid Doing That? A Sensory Approach to Understanding Your Child's Behavior by Cindy Utzinger will help readers understand the sensory foundation that everyone has and breaks down why various behaviors take place. The book explains how to understand those behaviors and gives the tools to provide an outlet for them. There is no handbook for parenting and it is always a learning experience bringing up a child. However, this book makes parenting and child-rearing a bit easier, and gives parents, tutors, and caregivers hope in handling the worrisome quirks of their children without feeling overwhelmed. The book speaks about the importance of having a solid foundation, which is important to all other learning so that they can learn and develop well.

Cindy Utzinger keeps it simple and easy for readers to understand, though there are some technical term usages. She deals with the subject extensively and methodically, guiding readers to examine the foundational layers of the building blocks of their children, the layers where learning occurs, and how to identify and discuss the layers and blocks that are visible. The practical and numerous alternatives given by the author will definitely help educators and parents to better understand the sensory behaviors of children. Why is My Kid Doing That? A Sensory Approach to Understanding Your Child's Behavior gives clarity on the behavioral problems of children and will help parents to guide their children so that they can achieve great heights and perform well.

Reviewed by Kristy Volchko for Readers' Favorite

Feeling Good: Living Low Toxin in Community and Everyday Life by Cheryl Meyer is a step-by-step, comprehensive guide on how to take control of your health and wellness, restore balance, and build your immune system once and for all. Chronic illness, inflammation, and autoimmune disease have skyrocketed and many sufferers are being misdiagnosed, under-diagnosed, and are far from finding relief from the pain and multiple (sometimes debilitating) symptoms caused by over-toxicity. Award-winning author Cheryl Meyer knows what you’re going through, having dealt with these challenges herself, and she’s made it her mission to help others on their journey to wellness, one page at a time. Never has the world been so full of the kinds of chemicals our human bodies must struggle to eliminate, but in the age of Covid-19, we need a healthy, strong immune system even more than ever. This book will show you how to combat the elements through various forms of self-care and the nutrition necessary to support and ultimately transform your body to a place of balance and restoration.

Feeling Good: Living Low Toxin in Community and Everyday Life by Cheryl Meyer is such a fantastic read! As a person with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), I found the information in the book to be spot-on and wished I’d had this available to me fifteen years ago when I was struggling the most. Some people are just beginning their journey and have no one to turn to because many doctors don’t get it or haven’t the faintest clue on where to direct a person already overwhelmed, inflamed, and intolerant to conventional medicines or methods. I highly recommend Feeling Good to everyone, not just folks that are struggling with issues, but those who wish to learn about maintaining good health in a time where toxic chemicals, foods, and environment seem to be the ‘norm’. Well-written, positive, informative, and a five-star addition to my bookshelf that I will most certainly read again and again!

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Brain Stages: How to Raise Smart, Confident Kids and Have Fun Doing It, K-5 by Patricia Wilkinson and Jacqueline Frischknecht is a good way for parents to realize the influence they have over their children's brain development. Kids' brains are elastic and this book will help not only raise confident, smart children but also reduce stress and make the parenting journey fun and fulfilling. There is a large collection of activities that will help to build and reinforce skills while bringing the family closer and keeping them connected. The challenging games have been designed keeping versatility in mind.

Brain Stages by Patricia Wilkinson and Jacqueline Frischknecht is a handy manual that gives step-by-step guidance to parents to enable them to boost their child's brainpower, social skills, and love for learning. It can be used again and again to facilitate learning, get homework help, understand social skills, and discover ways to effectively communicate with tutors, educators, and school administrators. Parents will find the book useful when it comes to understanding how to make the most of their child's brain development and enjoy building a healthy social, emotional, and academic foundation.

The strategies and techniques are a good way to enjoy a parent-child raising journey, and the authors have tackled the subject extensively in a methodical and structured way, making it easy for parents to incorporate into the lives of their children by forming a routine that is suitable for their brain growth. The book is also a good way for parents to understand that every child is an individual. It is important for them to do proper research and make an informed decision when it comes to deciding to send them to kindergarten and a proper school so that they end up being happy kids and well-adjusted adults someday.

Reviewed by Sefina Hawke for Readers' Favorite

Raising a Child with Dyslexia (What Every Parent Needs to Know) by Don M Winn is a non-fiction parenting book that would appeal most to an audience made up of family members of children with Dyslexia, teachers who have students with Dyslexia, and those studying in a medical field. This book offers assistance to those who need to know about Dyslexia in a manner designed for those without a medical background. The focus of the book includes signs of Dyslexia, symptoms of Dyslexia, understanding the testing process, tips for creating a good learning environment, ideas for creating a safe environment for children with Dyslexia, and how to help children with the condition cope with it. Does your child have Dyslexia or do you work with a child that does? If so, this book will prepare you not only for working with that child, but also for understanding them and helping them to grow not just educationally, but also on a personal level.

Raising a Child with Dyslexia (What Every Parent Needs to Know) by Don M Winn has a visually appealing cover, which made the book seem more like a self-help guide that I could understand without having a medical background. As a psychology student, I found this book very interesting as it did not just focus on the medical aspects of Dyslexia, but also the emotional aspects. I liked how the book did not focus exclusively on one factor of having childhood Dyslexia but instead covered everything from signs to testing all the way to helping the child educationally. This book should be required reading for anyone who is going to be working with a child with Dyslexia in any capacity.

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Once a Girl, Always a Boy: A Family Memoir of a Transgender Journey is a nonfiction memoir written by Jo Ivester and based on the video journals of her son, Jeremy Ivester. Jo and her husband, Jon, were not at all surprised when their third child, called Emily at the time, turned out to be actively involved in sports. Both his older brother and sister were into sports. While Jo and her husband were somewhat surprised when Jeremy didn’t go for the girly stuff, as his older sister did, but instead gravitated for the boy stuff just like his older brother, Ben, they delighted in his choices. And when they were both growing up, Ben spent hours coaching him. So, while Jeremy wasn’t viewed as a boy, he was able to do the boy things he loved and enjoy the friendship and camaraderie of being on and competing in athletic teams. Things all started to change, however, when he and his teammates turned nine. Jo began to realize that Jeremy’s situation was not like her own childhood had been after all. Jeremy, who decided for a while to be called Em, was not outgrowing a predilection for being a tomboy. When he was 19 years old, he happened to be watching an MTV reality show called True Life. It featured a transgender man who described his situation as having been born in a girl’s body and the show chronicled his transition. Watching as he spoke was a watershed moment for Jeremy.

Once a Girl, Always a Boy is a beautifully written account of a transgender boy’s early life and the family who stood beside him all the way. Ivester seamlessly weaves the contributions of her husband, Jeremy’s siblings and sister-in-law, and Jeremy’s video accounts in this honest and moving work. This memoir helps the reader realize that the confusion and turmoil that is puberty becomes even more soul altering when experienced by a transgender child. I was so impressed by Jeremy Ivester’s decision to work with his mother on this story. It would seem that the primary goal of going through surgery and hormone replacement therapy is to be able to live in one’s correct gender without having questions raised about genes or birth gender. His openness in this work is a marvelous gift for future transgender and gender-questioning kids, just as his parents’ support and involvement in being actively involved in transgender rights offer parents a splendid example of how to learn about and support something that might seem so out of the ordinary -- even while it seems to make so much sense. Once a Girl, Always a Boy: A Family Memoir of a Transgender Journey is a stunning and heartfelt story, and the pictures the author includes in the book make the journey feel even more real. Reading this book was a profound and remarkable experience as I was getting to know the Ivester family through their words. It’s most highly recommended.