By Saara Itkonen, Director of the Creston Valley Public Library
I have to admit that trying to come up with something to write about for this month’s column has been a challenge. Like many of you, I feel overwhelmed by all the events happening simultaneously in the world right now. At the library, we continue to battle to keep the public safe while remaining open for service. But all of us library workers are still human and feel the same fear of uncertainty as everyone else. With recent events in Ottawa (which directly resulted in more conflict in our library) and news of war abroad, writing a column for the newspaper feels like a futile effort.
For me, the only way to cope is to focus on what I do have control over. As a librarian and a parent, I often return to thinking about children and families and how to support them at this time. When the world feels uncertain – when I feel worried about how to parent my child while I’m feeling overwhelmed – I return to some of the wisdom I’ve gleaned from books I’ve read over the years.
For parents and caregivers of young children, I want to share some of the formative texts that I’ve learned from and leaned on. These titles are all available for loan - in house, online, or through inter-library loan. I hope that some of you might find them helpful as you navigate yourself and your little ones through this time.
• The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel - “Outlines twelve strategies for fostering brain development in children, explaining how challenging behaviors are rooted in immature left and right brain coordination and how parents can make adjustments to enable positive learning.”
• Nurtureshock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman - “A groundbreaking collaboration between award-winning science journalists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. They argue that when it comes to children, we’ve mistaken good intentions for good ideas. With impeccable storytelling and razor-sharp analysis, they demonstrate that many of modern society’s strategies for nurturing children are in fact backfiring—because key twists in the science have been overlooked. Nothing like a parenting manual, the authors’ work is an insightful exploration of themes and issues that transcend children’s (and adults’) lives.”
• Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps and What We Can Do About It by Lise Eliot - “Based on years of exhaustive research and her own work in the new field of plasticity, Eliot argues that infant brains are so malleable that a few small differences at birth become amplified over time, as parents and teachers—and the culture at large—unwittingly reinforce gender stereotypes. By appreciating how sex differences emerge—rather than assuming them to be fixed biological facts—we can help all children reach their fullest potential, close the troubling gaps between boys and girls, and ultimately end the gender wars that currently divide us.”
• The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook – What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Love, Loss, and Healing by Bruce Duncan Perry - “How does trauma affect a child’s mind-and how can that mind recover? In the classic The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, Dr. Perry explains what happens to the brains of children exposed to extreme stress and shares their lessons of courage, humanity, and hope. Only when we understand the science of the mind and the power of love and nurturing, can we hope to heal the spirit of even the most wounded child.”
• No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel - “The pioneering experts behind the bestselling The Whole-Brain Child now explore the ultimate child-raising challenge: discipline. Highlighting the fascinating link between a child’s neurological development and the way a parent reacts to misbehavior, No-Drama Discipline provides an effective, compassionate road map for dealing with tantrums, tensions, and tears—without causing a scene. Defining the true meaning of the “d” word (to instruct, not to shout or reprimand), the authors explain how to reach your child, redirect emotions, and turn a meltdown into an opportunity for growth. By doing so, the cycle of negative behavior (and punishment) is essentially brought to a halt, as problem solving becomes a win/win situation.”
• Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons that Parents Around the World Can Teach Us by Christine Gross-Loh - Christine Gross-Loh exposes culturally determined norms we have about “good parenting,” and asks, Are there parenting strategies other countries are getting right that we are not? This book takes us across the globe and examines how parents successfully foster resilience, creativity, independence, and academic excellence in their children.
Wishing you and your little ones are all safe, happy, and healthy at this time.
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