Parenting is filled with joys, challenges, and countless life-lesson moments. For new parents, it can feel like jumping off a cliff, head first, without any protective gear. However, reading the right books can provide valuable insights and guidance and help you navigate the new chapter in your life.

Check out these five highly recommended parenting books. To order, scan the QR code that’ll take you directly to a seller on Taobao.

The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

This book offers a profound understanding of how a child’s brain develops and how parents can help nurture it. It provides practical strategies for dealing with tantrums, emotions, and building healthy relationships. By learning about the brain’s functions and how to connect with a child on a neurological level, parents can better handle various situations and promote their child’s emotional and cognitive growth.

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

Effective communication is the cornerstone of good parenting. This classic book equips parents with the skills to have meaningful conversations with their children. It teaches techniques such as active listening, using empathetic language, and giving choices instead of commands. With these tools, parents can avoid power struggles and build stronger bonds with their kids.

There’s also a version called How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen that’s got more specific examples for kids ages 2-7.

The Wonder Weeks by Frans X. Plooij and Hetty van de Rijt

New parents often wonder about the sudden changes in their baby’s behavior and mood. The Wonder Weeks explains the predictable leaps in a baby’s mental development. It details the approximate ages when these leaps occur and the accompanying changes in behavior. Understanding these patterns helps parents to be more patient and responsive during these transitional periods.

Parenting from the Inside Out by Daniel J. Siegel and Mary Hartzell

This book emphasizes the importance of self-awareness in parenting. It shows how a parent’s own past experiences and emotional baggage can impact their parenting style. By reflecting on their own upbringing and emotional history, parents can make conscious choices to break negative cycles and provide a more nurturing and loving environment for their children.

Baby 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice for Your Baby’s First Year by Ari Brown and Denise Fields

As the name suggests, this book is a comprehensive guide for the first year of a baby’s life. It covers everything from breastfeeding and sleep training to common health issues and developmental milestones. It is like a handy encyclopedia that new parents can refer to whenever they have questions or concerns about their baby’s well-being.

Images: Taobao, Pexels

Time to grab a book Beijingers, because today is World Book Day! Also known as World Book and Copyright Day, or International Day of the Book, this day was inaugurated in 1995, and was founded by UNESCO to celebrate all things reading, literacy, publishing, and copyright. Now, it’s celebrated all over the world.

As many of you are probably aware, it’s not particularly easy to buy books in China in languages other than Mandarin – the selection in the big bookstores is limited and there is currently no dedicated English-language bookstore or library in the capital. But don’t let that stop you, because Amazon has unlocked a pretty attractive feature recently: offering two months of access to their Kindle Unlimited service for free. The service (which usually costs the equivalent of about USD 10 per month) is available to all new subscribers and gives you access to over 1 million titles, including plenty to keep both parents and kids happy. Actually, this service is more like a library subscription than a bookstore: instead of purchasing books one by one, as under a normal Kindle store, with Unlimited you pay a flat monthly fee and download and read up to 10 different titles from the collection at a time. If you want to read something new, you’ll have to “return” one of your books.

To take advantage of this deal, you have to sign up before Apr 30, but you don’t even need a tablet to use this service: you can download directly to iOS, Android, and Windows devices with the free Kindle apps. You can also sign up and then immediately cancel your subscription, and still enjoy the two months access.

While not all Kindle books are available on Unlimited, there are over 1 million different titles, including bestsellers, magazines, self-help titles, kid’s books, and everything in between. So… where to begin reading? It’s a big wide world out there, but of course, we’ve rounded up some reading lists that are all about parenting, education, and of course, books for children themselves.

Note: please be aware that availability and whether or not they are included in the Unlimited collection also depends on your device’s region settings.

Just click the link for more details and how to download them to your device.

• Book Authority:25 Best New Parenting eBooks To Read In 2020.
• Free Stuff Finder: Free Kindle Parenting Books.
• Goodreads: Free Kindle Books (Young Adult).
• Amazon: Children’s Kindle Books.
• Project Gutenberg: Children’s Bookshelf.
• Free Booksy: Young Adult.
• Manybooks.net: Young Readers.

… and this is just the beginning! Do you have any other good resources for free books? Share them in the comments section!

A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, the Beijinger.
Photos: bady qb (via Unsplash)