There are so many good books today to help us on this extraordinary grandparent journey, it’s almost impossible to boil them down to just ten, but we did our best and here are the 2017 GRAND picks.
GRANNY GET YOUR GLUE GUN – HOW TO HAVE FUN WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS
By Maureen Goulet and Diana Budden
For a nice change, a book for grandparents with an image of a contemporary GRANDmom on the cover. This book is a creative collection of fun activities to help grandparents, especially us non-crafty ones, spend quality time with the g-kids and not break the bank. It has easy-to-follow instructions for about 40 crafts, baking, and games that are sure to create special memories.
Grandparenting for Beginners
by Clive Whichelow The first thing you need to know about this book is that it’s written by a comedy writer. Once you realize that, everything falls into place. The world has changed since you had little ones of your own—you may now have to read bedtime stories from an e-book, buy designer babygrows and check all their sweets for E-numbers . . . welcome to grandparenting 21st-century style!
Your First Grandchild – The survival guide for every new grandparent
by Peggy Vance, Claire Nielson & Paul Greenwood: Useful, touching and hilarious guide for first-time grandparents – Written by two generations of one family with illuminating case studies, tips and practical ideas – as well as a sensitive look at emotional issues -this lightly humorous book has a user-friendly, lively design and fun cartoons. The guide is a good introduction to grandparents who want to be up-to-date with the modern style of parenting and new technological innovations.
Gifts of Being Grand: For Grandparents Everywhere
by Marianne Richmond – This book pays tribute to the special joys and rewards of grandparenthood. Filled with wit and warmth, the book’s lyrical poetry and vibrant illustrations let “grown-up” moms and dads recall their parenting past, celebrate their own kids, and delight in the newfound gifts of grandparenthood. From a “grand” new name and lots of hugs and kisses…to a second chance for patience, adventure and fun, The Gifts of Being Grand counts each gift as a reason to cherish this grand season of life!
Good to be GRAND – Making the Most of your Grandchild’s First Year
by Cheryl Harbour – Becoming a grandparent is a major milestone, raising new questions, challenges, and opportunities. Prepare for this transformative stage of life—and make the baby’s first year one of the most meaningful experiences for both of you. Journalist and new grandmother Cheryl Harbour gets right to the point of what modern grandparents really need to know from the time they begin anticipating the birth to the end of the first year. Harbour takes the best and most relevant information from the latest research, expert interviews, and thick parenting books and tailors it specifically for grandparents.
The Granny Diaries – An insider’s Guide for New Grandmothers
by Adair Lara – This delightful guide gives new grandmas clear direction on how to navigate foreign territory. Celebrated columnist Adair Lara advises on how to choose a decent name (Oopsie? Boopsie?). She outlines how to give advice without getting a Dr. Sears guide chucked at the head. She offers wise counsel on how to stay on the parents’ good side (hint: don’t say anything, ever). Hilarious in its blunt truisms, The Granny Diaries steers around the shoals of grandma sentimentality.
Grandmothering: Real Life in Real Families
by Becky Sarah is about all kinds of families, including adoptive families, gay and lesbian parents, stepfamilies and multiracial families. Based on more than 80 interviews, with information, tips, and advice about the challenges and joys—both contemporary and timeless. The book covers giving advice and help to the grandchildren’s parents, changes in the social context and customs of parenting over the generations, taking care of grandchildren, getting along with the other grandparents, money and gifts, travel with children, passing on culture and family history, how and when to say no, and many other topics.
Grandparenting A Child With Special Needs
by Charlotte E. Thompson, M.D. When a new baby is born into a family, grandparents are excited about having a baby to enjoy and love. If the child is born with a disability, it can be difficult to know how to react and how best to help the child and the family as a whole. This book provides guidance on how to grandparent a child with special needs and give every grandchild the love and care they deserve and parents the added support they need. This books is a unique guide for grandparents keen to make a difference to the lives of their children and their grandchildren.
Becoming Grandma – The Joys and Science of the New Grandparenting
by Lesley Stahl. The author’s most vivid and transformative experience of life was not covering the White House, interviewing heads of state, at 60 Minutes. It was becoming a grandmother. She was hit with a jolt of joy so intense and unexpected, she wanted to “investigate” it—as though it were a news flash. And so, using her 60 Minutes skills, she explored how grandmothering changes a woman’s life, interviewing friends like Whoopi Goldberg, colleagues like Diane Sawyer (and grandfathers, including Tom Brokaw), as well as the proverbial woman next door. Stahl speaks with scientists and doctors about physiological changes that occur in women when they have grandchildren; anthropologists about why there are grandmothers, in evolutionary terms; and psychiatrists about the therapeutic effects of grandchildren on both grandmothers and grandfathers.
The Grandparent Guide – The Definitive Guide to Coping with the Challenges of Modern Grandparenting
by Arthur Kornhaber, M.D. From interracial families to adopted children, same-sex parents to surrogacy, this comprehensive title covers the new challenges and new joys of being a grandparent today. Dr. Kornhaber draws upon years of experience to produce a comprehensive overview of grandparenting. The Grandparent Guide is a complete education for readers struggling with the challenges of modern grandparenting. Based on Dr. Kornhaber’s more than 30 years of research and clinical studies, it supplies the expert advice and guidance grandparents need to stay ahead of the curve of social change.
