Books for Parents
ADOLESCENCE AND COMING OF AGE
The Thundering Years: Rituals and Sacred Wisdom for Teens by Julie Tallard Johnson. On the way to adulthood, we need to listen to our intense feelings, dreams, desires, and goals. Drawing on wisdom from cultures around the world, the author offers ideas for teens to creatively harness the powerful emotions and energy of the teen years. Chock full of insight, exercises, rituals, and resources. Written for teens, but great ideas for parents and mentors.
Becoming Peers: Mentoring Girls Into Womanhood by DeAnna L’am. An inspirational guide for mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, aunts, or any woman wishing to nurture a girl through her coming of age (while empowering herself!) — This book provides practical guidelines for mentoring a girl into womanhood. It offers creative ceremonies and activities designed to honor a girl’s transition and call her to new levels of maturity. At the same time, it presents the adult woman/mentor with powerful tools for enhancing her inner and outer life. The book is motivated by the belief that for a girl to enter womanhood in a meaningful way, it is essential that her mother and other special women in her life cultivate a new way of relating that will gradually help her to become their peer.
http://www.deannalam.com/training/becoming-peers-mentoring-girls-into-womanhood
Menarche: A Journey to Womanhood by Rachael Hertogs. A book for mothers and daughters to read together, with suggested activities.
Coming of Age by Linda Knodle. This is a Waldorf curriculum for coming of age that covers skillfully, creatively and reverentially the changes of puberty and human reproductive anatomy.
Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions. A wonderful goddess-y, earth-honoring book about celebrating the wheel of the year. For families with young children o up through middle school. Includes material on Coming of Age. Whether you’re into the Goddess or not, offers a great picture of how to use stories and activities to learn and celebrate.
Not a book but must mention here the Rites of Passage audio/video package by DeAnna L’am and Janet Allison. Interviews and presentation about adolescent rites of passage for both girls and boys. http://www.ritesofpassageevent.com/Kpackage.php
MENSTRUATION AND MENOPAUSE
105 Ways to Celebrate Menstruation by Kami McBride. Reclaim a sense of love and honor for your body and your menstrual cycle, 105 Ways to Celebrate Menstruation invites you to explore healing tools that promote wellness and empowerment for your menstrual experience. This is a valuable book for all menstruating women and women with teenage daughters. It helps women better understand their body cycles and how to use menstruation as a tool for personal growth and self-healing. You will find wonderful herbal recipes that have been formulated from Kami’s fifteen years of teaching women’s health. Simple and easy to read, you will feel inspired to nurture and care for yourself, creating a healthier and more balanced moon time. ~ by the publisher. Highly recommended ~ KK
The Seven Sacred Rites of Menarche: The Spiritual Journey of the Adolescent Girl by Kristi Meisenbach Boylan. The vast majority of books on menarche – the first menstrual cycle – do not address its effect on a young girl’s spiritual journey from maidenhood to womanhood. This book outlines the seven rituals, or stepping-stones, that a young woman faces on her voyage, marking her way through adolescence. These stepping-stones lead her from the childhood years to the childbearing year and draw attention to a young woman’s changing spirit. Included are ideas for creating rites of passage, celebrations, and positive rituals for both mothers and daughters to share during this challenging and amazing time of growth. ~ by the publisher. Highly recommended ~ KK
4 Seasons in 4 Weeks: Awakening the Power, Wisdom, and Beauty in Every Woman’s Nature by Suzanne Mathis McQueen. Using the sun seasons, moon phases, and archetypes to reach deeply into the vulnerable depths of the repeating female monthly experience, 4 Seasons in 4 Weeks is a non-technical and symbolic journey through the 28 days of the female hormonal rhythm, revealing a logical and predictable blueprint that is easy for anyone to understand.
By tapping into this primordial compass and forgotten ancient wisdom, each woman, whether cycling or not, is given the power to find home in her rhythmic essence, navigating her physical energy, well-rounded viewpoint, and sexuality by taking charge of her survival as well as advantage of optimal times to connect, create, exercise, seduce, rest, lead, and observe. When men learn the 4s4w approach, it takes the mystery and the guess work out when initiating sex or other forms of communication.
From the beginning, brief overviews of women’s history, global healing, sacred geometry/universal rhythms, and female sexuality prime the reader for a richer appreciation of the four weekly seasons. Using language and images that are clear, comfortable, and positive, this exquisite book sheds light on the true nature of the organic feminine rhythm and allows both women and men to embrace it with grace and ease. ~ by the publisher. Highly recommended – KK
Her Blood Is Gold: Awakening to the Wisdom of Menstruation by Lara Owen. Every time a woman menstruates she has the opportunity to develop greater self-knowledge and spiritual awareness. Drawing on information from several cultural traditions as well as from her own experiences and those of other women, Lara Owen shows how your period can become a time of emotional deepening and physical renewal during which you can tap into inner wisdom. “Honoring Menstruation” is an updated, revised and expanded version of Owen’s first book, “Her Blood Is Gold” and includes a new section on natural healing methods for menstrual symptoms, as well as a detailed description of the of the spiritual and emotional phases that occur within the menstrual cycle. ~ by the publisher. Highly recommended ~ KK
Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World by Judy Grahn. The feminist author of Another Mother Tongue offers a mythographic study of the interconnections among ancient menstrual rites and the development of agriculture, mathematics, writing, calendars, and other realms of knowledge. ~ by the publisher
The Wise Wound: Menstruation and Everywoman by Penelope Shuttle. This groundbreaking study of the facts, fantasies, and taboos surrounding menstruation has helped bring about a profound shift in attitudes toward a natural phenomenon that has been reviled and denigrated over the centuries. Thoroughly researched yet highly readable, combining psychology, anthropology, and poetry ~ by the publisher
Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess by Demetra George.
Dragontime: Magic and Mystery of Menstruation by Luisa Francia
Red Moon : Understanding and Using the Gifts of the Menstrual Cycle by Miranda Gray
The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing During the Change by Christiane Northrup, M.D. Highly recommended – KK
Moon Time: a guide to celebrating your menstrual cycle by Lucy H. Pearce.
Menarche: A Journey to Womanhood by Rachael Hertogs. A book for mothers and daughters to read together, with suggested activities.
RAISING A DAUGHTER
Mother-Daughter Wisdom: Creating a Legacy of Physical and Emotional Health by Christiane Northrup. A feast of advice, information and inspiration relating to the spiritual, psychological and medical (mind, body, soul) aspects of your daughter and your relationship with her. A helpful guide to help mothers raise empowered, spirit-filled, healthy daughters. ~ by the publisher. Highly recommended ~ KK
Celebrating Girls: Nurturing and Empowering Our Daughters, by Virginia Beane Rutter.
Embracing Persephone: How to be the Mother You Want for the Daughter You Cherish, by Virginia Beane Rutter
Keep Talking: A Mother-Daughter Guide to the Pre-Teen Years, Lynda Madison, PhD, Andrew McMeel Publishing
Positive Discipline for Teenagers: Empowering Your Teen and Yourself Through Firm and Kind Parenting, Jane Nelsen and Lynda Lott, Three Rivers Press
Between Mother and Daughter: A Teenager and Her Mom Share the Secrets of a Strong Relationship, Judy Ford and Amanda Ford, Red Wheel
SEXUALLY HEALTHY KIDS
Beyond the Big Talk: Every Parent’s Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Teens Debra W. Haffner, Newmarket Press, 2001. A guide for adults about adolescent sexual development, values, influences, parent involvement, and what to say and do.
From Diapers to Dating: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Sexually Healthy Youth (2nd. Edition) Debra Haffner. Newmarket Press, 2008. (for ages birth to 12) This book is filled with practical advice and guidelines to help parents feel more comfortable talking to children and early adolescents about sexuality issues. Incorporating values exercise, it encourages parents to examine their own sexual values so that they can share these messages.
Always My Child: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered or Questioning Son or Daughter, Kevin Jennings, 2002. Filled with real-life stories, scientific research and practical advice, Jennings’ latest (after Becoming Invisible) stresses the importance of family acceptance for a child’s self-esteem and the need to create a safe haven at home for GLBTQ teens, who often feel depressed, isolated, and harassed by peers and society at large. – Publishers Weekly
Websites For Parents
www.plannedparenthood.org/parents/index.htm Great information for parents on how to talk to kids about puberty and sexuality.
www.advocatesforyouth.org/parents Offers a parent sex-ed resource center. Excellent resource for mentors as well