My sister is expecting her first baby.  The other day she asked me about the best books for moms to read.  I rattled off a few, but for her sake (and yours!)  I’ll include only the best books to give to moms right here 🙂

These make great Mother’s Day or Baby Shower Gifts!!!

Books Every Mom Should Read

This book helps moms stop comparing their worst moments to their friends Facebook highlight reel. It debunks the myth of the perfect mom with laughter.

Lisa-Jo shows you that each mom is a super hero just for showing up everyday. Her celebration of being present in the chaos is refreshing.

Books to Help you Love your Children Better

Learning to express love for my children in the “languages” they best hear is my first defense against discipline problems.  When they feel deeply loved, they don’t act out nearly as often.

I read the initial Boundaries book on the recommendation of a friend and it has really shaped me as a parent and I can’t wait to read this one.

I’m still only about halfway through this gem because I’m just soaking in all the rich truth. But seeing the value in the mundane is something I struggle with and it’s also somewhere I need to grow to love these little people more.

Books for when You’re Overwhelmed

What I love most about this book is the vision for an mentor mom to come alongside the desperate new mom and train her to love her kids.  I think that middle aged women really treasure helping new moms, if we’re humble enough to seek them out.

I have never laughed so hard in my life. Rachel lives a life similar to mine with so many little ones and she makes me laugh myself into both repentance and action. The chapters are short enough to read one while your kids melt down outside your bathroom doorway.

Books on Disciplining Children

I know disciplining children is a touchy topic and there’s clearly more than one way to do things… but these are the methods and books that really resonated with me and my little ones.

Ginger Plowman helps give a framework for teaching your children to obey.  I think reading this book at the same time as Give Them Grace will help temper this books step-by-step directives.

Elyse Fitzpatrick completely knocks over all your preconceptions about grace/discipline as she helps you develop a method for continually sharing the good news with your children. Those who love to read and think about the implications of applying theology will really resonate with this book.  But those who don’t enjoy that as much should pair this with Don’t Make Me Count to 3.

If you have a strong willed little one who isn’t responding to discipline, Cynthia Tobias helps you understand how your child ticks. As a strong-willed mama of a strong-willed little girl, this book nails us both.  I’m not even done with it… but I keep dying laughing over accurate descriptions of who I am.