Book List for Help with Parenting Gifted Children!
Provided strictly as resources. GCABC does not endorse any specific resources.
*The Gifted Kids Workbook: Mindfulness skills to help children reduce stress, balance emotions, and build confidence. Details
*Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up: Help your child overcome slow processing speed and succeed in a fast-paced world. Details
*How to Be a Friend: A guide for making friends and keeping them. Details
*Smart but Scattered: The revolutionary “executive skills” approach to helping kids reach their potential. Details
*When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers: How to meet their social and emotional needs. Details
* Perfectionism Workbook for Teens: Activities to help you reduce anxiety and get things done. Details
*When My Worries Get Too Big. Details
*Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child: The heart of parenting. Details
*The Explosive Child: A new approach for understanding and parenting easily frustrated, chronically inflexible children. Details
*Parenting a Child Who Has Intense Emotions: Dialectical behavior therapy skills to help your child regulate emotional outbursts and aggressive emotions. Details
*Raising Gifted Kids: Everything you need to know to help your exceptional child thrive. Details
*Too Perfect. Details
*Being Smart About Gifted Children: A guidebook for parents and educators. Details
*The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What do we know. Details
*“Mellow Out” They Say. If Only I Could: Intensities and sensitivities of the young and bright. Details
*Keys to parenting the gifted child. Details
*The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids: How to understand, live with, and stick up for your gifted child. Details
*Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, bipolar, OCD, Asperger’s, depression, and other disorders. Details
*A parent’s guide to gifted children. Details
For more books on parenting gifted children, these publishers have a specialty in this area:
- Great Potential Press: https://www.greatpotentialpress.com/
- Prufrock Press: https://www.prufrock.com/
- Free Spirit Publishing: https://www.freespirit.com/
Or, look at the list on Hoagies Gifted page for many other publishers that also publish for school- and home-based gifted education: http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/publishers.htm
Detailed Description:
Boorman, H. (2018) The Gifted Kids Workbook: Mindfulness skills to help children reduce stress, balance emotions, and build confidence. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
This workbook addresses the unique challenges faced by intellectually and academically gifted children. It includes sections on understanding giftedness and enjoying the intensities of giftedness including how to manage emotions, channeling intellect in a productive way, and unleashing creativity by staying grounded. Using a combination of mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and self-compassion strategies, the various activities in this workbook help children gain a better understanding of how to cope with the struggles associated with being gifted, improving friendships and social connections, and developing an identity. Ultimately, this workbook is aimed at teaching essential strategies for emotional regulation, anxiety management, mood improvement, and building social relationships.
Braaten, E. & Willoughby, B. (2014). Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up: Help your child overcome slow processing speed and succeed in a fast-paced world. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Many children, even those identified as ‘gifted’, have difficulties with an area of cognitive functioning called “processing speed”. These children often appear to take longer than others to complete tasks, whether it is homework, responding when spoken to, or completing their morning routine. The authors of this book aim to explain the concept of processing speed and its effects on daily life within the classroom, the home, and on social relationships. The authors use case studies, detailed examples, and resources like checklists and graphs, to ensure their readers understand how to support their children’s social emotional functioning, while being compassionate and considerate to their needs.
Brown, L.K., & Brown, M. (2001). How to Be a Friend: A guide for making friends and keeping them. New York, NY: Little Brown.
This illustrated booked, aimed for children 4-8 years of age, uses story-telling and fun dinosaur characters to describe the value of making and keeping friends. For children who are shy, or who have a hard time making friends, this book helps illustrate individual aspects of every day social situations involved in friendship. It includes lessons on who they can be friends with, how to show someone they would like to be friends, handling bullies and bossy friends, ways to be a good friend, and how to settle an argument with a friend.
Dawson, P. & Guare, R. (2009). Smart but Scattered: The revolutionary “executive skills” approach to helping kids reach their potentialNew York, NY: Guilford Press.
Many bright or talented children struggle with organization, planning, initiating tasks, and following instructions. Some may have difficulty managing emotions or coping with perfectionistic tendencies. This book, geared towards children 4-13 years of age, focuses on the latest research on child development and executive functioning. It helps parents understand the psychology behind why their child, although bright, has difficulty staying organized, focused, or controlling their impulses; and their own contributions to this development. The book also provides parents with ten principles that could help improve their child’s executive functioning, including environmental and behavioural modifications. Finally, the authors provide parents with crucial resources such as computer programs and mobile apps, toys and games, and important websites, to help learn about and improve their child’s executive functioning skills.
Delisle, J., & Galbraith, J. (2002) When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers: How to meet their social and emotional needs. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.
Geared towards teachers and parents of gifted children, this book gives valuable insights into some of the common characteristics shared by children with the ‘gifted’ identification, as well as some of the challenges that they face. The authors explore the relationships between these students and their school work, as well as provide information on how to understand and interact with them on a personal level to encourage growth and excitement for school, without letting them fall behind socially and emotionally. The authors also suggest ways for educators and parents to talk to their children about the issues that they face and also provide material, such as questionnaires and exercises, meant to help facilitate meaningful discussions.
Dobosz, A.M. (2016) The Perfectionism Workbook for Teens: Activities to help you reduce anxiety and get things done. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
This book focuses on maladaptive habits of perfectionism and aims to guide teens on how to be kinder and more supportive of themselves. Often, unhealthy perfectionism can be accompanied by anxiety, low self-esteem, relationship problems, and a number of mental health concerns. This workbook contains activities to help differentiate between healthy and unhealthy perfectionism. The activities in this workbook comprise techniques from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based therapies (i.e., DBT) that are meant to help identify negative emotions, habits, and core beliefs associated with maladaptive perfectionism. The goal of this workbook is to help adolescents develop non-perfectionist skills and habits, that will ultimately work as protective factors against the negative effects of perfectionism.
Dunn Buron, K. & Smith Myles, B. (2014) When My Worries Get Too Big! Second Edition. Shawnee, KS: AAPC Publishing.
This illustrated resource is geared towards young children with anxiety and anxiety-related disorders. Anxiety can have many effects on a child’s well-being, including their functioning at school, in social situations, and at home. Particularly, high levels of stress can impact a child’s ability to learn and make decisions, which can be detrimental at a young age. The objective of this book is to teach children how to recognize when they are feeling anxious, reach out to supports, and learn how to self-regulate their emotions with relaxation strategies. Several strategies for parents and teachers of children with anxiety are also included, which are based on cognitive behavioural therapy principles, as well as psychoeducation.
Gottman, J., Goleman, D. & DeClaire, J. (1998) Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child: The heart of parenting. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
This book, designed for all parents, is a guide to teaching children to understand and regulate their emotions. The book begins by educating readers about the importance of emotional intelligence, through short vignettes. It uncovers the parenting styles that neglect to teach emotional intelligence and attempts to have readers master their emotions through commitment and patience. The process includes five steps that teach parents how to be aware of a child’s emotions, recognize emotional expression as an opportunity for intimacy and teaching, listen empathetically, and validate a child’s feelings. It also provides suggestions on how to label emotions in words a child can understand, and to help their child come up with an appropriate way to solve a problem. The author also highlights key factors within a child’s life including, the parents’ marital status, the father’s crucial role, and emotional growth across the lifespan, that typically have an impact on emotional understanding. Finally, it provides readers with age-appropriate books to help develop their emotional intelligence.
Greene, R.W. (2014) The Explosive Child: A new approach for understanding and parenting easily frustrated, chronically inflexible children. New York, NY: Harper Paperbacks.
This book outlines some of the challenging behaviours, (e.g., screaming, swearing, crying, hitting) seen in children who have difficulty self-regulating. Dr. Greene attempts to explain why children behave in challenging, aggressive, or defiant ways, and simultaneously outlines the best ways to respond to their children effectively. More specifically, the author describes how to best understand the factors contributing to challenging behaviours, identify the situations that precipitate challenging episodes, and eliminate or reduce these episodes. Some suggestions include, solving problems collaboratively and proactively, by helping the parent teach skills that help their child be more flexible and tolerant to frustration, which will benefit them for a life time.
Harvey, P. & Penzo, J. (2009). Parenting a Child Who Has Intense Emotions: Dialectical behavior therapy skills to help your child regulate emotional outbursts and aggressive emotions. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
Many gifted children have difficulty with emotional regulation or emotional sensitivity, which can often lead to aggressive outbursts and problem behaviours. This book is important for helping parents understand the contributing factors to these difficult situations, and learning strategies to appropriately de-escalate their children’s emotions. It provides strategies from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), including mindfulness and validation skills to support their child’s emotional expression in healthy ways. Although geared towards parents of highly emotional children, the skills learned in this book are useful for dealing with all individuals in a validating and emotionally-sensitive manner. It helps parents learn skills that will be of life-long benefit to them and to their children.
Klein, Barbara. (2006). Raising Gifted Kids: Everything you need to know to help your exceptional child thrive. New York, NY: American Management Association.
This book is for both parents of children who have already been identified as gifted as well as parents that suspect that their child might be gifted but have not yet been tested. It first provides a clear and concise explanation of giftedness, describes the ways of measuring giftedness, and attempts to dispel myths about giftedness. Chapter two provides suggestions on how to better understand the needs of gifted children, as often there are variations in giftedness that require individualized understanding. Some specific hands-on strategies are also provided. Chapter three focuses on finding the right school or program for their gifted child, with a detailed explanation of different learning styles and potential outcomes of various programs. The final few chapters focus on personality characteristics of gifted children, family dynamics, and learning ways to raise productive and well-adjusted gifted children. Finally, the author provides general ‘rules’ to help best support their gifted child and to best navigate the various challenges that may occur.
Ludwig, T. & Fields, L. (2009). Too Perfect. Toronto, ON: Tricycle Press.
Geared towards children ages 6-9 years old, this illustrated short-story attempts to help explain perfectionism in an age-appropriate way. The message in this story is aimed to make children feel more comfortable, proud, and respectful of themselves. It helps them focus on decision making in the context of staying true to themselves. The author also helps deliver a message to parents about the way that perfectionism can be reinforced through actions and behaviours, and how to best avoid this. It can help set the stage for meaningful discussions with children about the importance of working towards their potential, instead of towards perfection.
Matthews, D.J., & Foster, J.F. (2009). Being Smart About Gifted Children: A guidebook for parents and educators. Second Edition. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press.
In the second edition of ‘Being Smart About Gifted Children’, the authors present their newest work on how to identify and nurture exceptionally high ability in children. They explore the concepts of ‘mastery’ vs. ‘mystery’ to promote inclusive understanding of giftedness. The authors explore common topics in giftedness research including creativity, motivation, achievement, and social-emotional concerns. Further, they provide readers with information on how gifted testing is conducted, the research on the development of giftedness, information on regular-classroom versus specialized gifted programs, and the common misdiagnoses of gifted children. Finally, the authors share resources, answer frequently asked questions, and discuss the importance of staying up to date on current research, and conducting future research.
Neihart, M., Reis, S., Robinson, N. & Moon, S. (2015). The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What do we know? Washington, DC: Prufrock Press.
This resource summarizes the existing literature on the social and emotional development of gifted children. Topics include acceleration programs, the highly gifted, perfectionism, underachievement, depression, and other mental health correlates. It is inclusive of all populations, including sexual minorities, cultural minorities, learning disabled, and ADHD students, among others. The book is geared towards parents, counselors, and teachers of gifted students, and provides research-based techniques and strategies for dealing with the social-emotional challenges faced by gifted children. It includes chapters on peer pressure, social acceptance, and resiliency, offering a comprehensive overview of the challenges and benefits of being a high achiever. This edition includes a new section on the psychosocial and cultural aspects of talent development, perfectionism, and the gifted population.
Piechowski, M.M. (2006). “Mellow Out” They Say. If Only I Could: Intensities and sensitivities of the young and bright. Madison, WI: Yunasa Books.
The objective of this book is to illustrate the intensities and sensitivities of highly intelligent children in a positive light. The author introduces concepts essential to understanding the social-emotional development of gifted individuals, including developmental potential and multi-levelness. The author portrays the challenges, thoughts, and feelings of young people through various anecdotes, quotes, and real-life responses. He discusses the ‘five intensities’ that are often present for gifted individuals, including emotional sensitivity, imagination, spirituality, sensory sensitivity, and intellect. Further, he provides research on the varying emotional intensities that develop throughout the transition from childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood. He also presents the research on neurological mechanisms that create and support these feelings and emotions throughout the lifespan.
Rimm, S. (2007). Keys to parenting the gifted child (3rd ed.). Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press.
This book is intended for parents of gifted, talented, and creative children, who have questions and concerns about how to best support them. The author provides a comprehensive guide on the steps involved in receiving a psychoeducational assessment, selecting an appropriate school or enrichment program, encouraging good study habits and a love of learning, and communicating with teachers and professionals in the field. Many misconceptions, myths, and frequently asked questions are also addressed. The author provides information on how to best support gifted children with disabilities or multiple-exceptionalities. Other issues are also addressed, such as family issues relating to having a gifted child, single-parenting, blended families, and sibling rivalry. This book is focused on helping parents guide their bright children to achieve their maximum potential.
Walker, S.Y. (2002). The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids: How to understand, live with, and stick up for your gifted child. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit.
This clear and specific guide, geared towards parents of gifted children, outlines the common experiences of parents whose children have been identified as ‘gifted’ or are in the process of being identified as ‘gifted.’ It points out the educational aspects of giftedness, as well as the social-emotional considerations, such as intense emotionality, frustration with peers, and difficulty with attention. This book addresses questions around what it means to be gifted, how children are identified as gifted, as well as the good and the bad about a giftedness identification. This guide also talks about various learning opportunities often available to gifted children as well as discusses unique challenges and problems specific to gifted children.
Webb, J.T., Amend, E.D., & Beljan, P. (2016). Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, bipolar, OCD, Asperger’s, depression, and other disorders. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press.
This book is for both children and adults who have been identified as gifted. It is first a guide to understanding the gifted population, seeking self-acceptance of gifted behaviours, and discussing various diagnoses and how they apply to the gifted population. This book thoroughly summarizes the research on the positive characteristics and the consequent risk factors of giftedness. It recognizes that gifted children can often appear to have a multiplicity of other disorders, but helps differentiate between these disorders (e.g., behavioural disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders) and giftedness, and points out common misdiagnoses. It lists the symptoms, mannerisms, and behaviours that are attributable to giftedness, against those attributable to other diagnoses, so that the reader can have a more in-depth understanding of the psychological research in this area. The goal of this book is to help parents become better advocates for their gifted children, and to help gifted adults better understanding their strengths and weaknesses so that they can self-advocate.
Webb, J.T, Gore, J.L., Amend, E.R., & DeVries, A. (2007) A parent’s guide to gifted children. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press.
This guide, based on extensive research, is written by four individuals with extensive knowledge and professional experience with gifted children and their families. The book is intended to provide guidance on topics relating to characteristics of gifted children, peer relationships, sibling issues, motivation, underachievement, discipline issues, intensity, stress, depression, and unhappiness. It helps guide parents towards educational planning and finding professional help when needed. It also provides teachers with resources to help their students. Topics include how schools identify gifted children, teaching children who are twice-exceptional, developing a gifted program, and typical classroom provisions for children who are gifted. The final pages of the book offer suggested readings and resources for individuals involved in the lives of gifted children.