Being a parent is full of challenges—here are 20 great parenting audiobooks to help

Social scientist, renowned speaker, and bestselling author, Dr. Brené Brown has devoted her career to researching complex emotions and traits like shame, vulnerability, and self-worth. In The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting, she brings that research to the challenges—and all-too-common feelings of inadequacy—that come with being a parent. Acknowledging that even the most committed parent makes mistakes, Brown offers 10 key pillars for creating "wholehearted" families and raising children with courage and compassion. She brings her talent for motivational speaking to her narration, which, along with her personal experience as a mother, makes this audio incredibly easy to connect with. Plus, at just over two hours long, you’ll be able to take in all the wisdom Brown has to share during naptime or after tucking your kids into bed.

How can you make your child feel loved and appreciated, even when you're disappointed by their behavior or, worse, really angry? In The 5 Love Languages of Children, renowned relationship counselor Gary Chapman adapts the trusted communication strategies from his bestselling guide for couples to help ease conflicts, avoid misunderstandings, and strengthen the bond between parents and kids. Written with Ross Campbell and narrated by Chris Fabry, this book offers practical, reassuring advice on how to discover and speak your child's love language in dozens of ways, including spending one-on-one time together. Before long, you'll be on your way to building a solid foundation of respect and trust with your child.

Becoming a parent changes your life forever—in often unexpected and complicated ways. In All Joy and No Fun, award-winning journalist Jennifer Senior takes a deep dive into the lives of parents around the country to explore the significant impact of having children—whether "by accident" or planned, biology or adoption—on marriages, friendships, extended family dynamics, careers, habits, hobbies, and our sense of self. This author-narrated listen offers intimate glimpses of diverse mothers and fathers as they wrestle with the frustrations of parenting and bask in its rewards, with insights to help new parents as they struggle to transition into life with children or navigate life with teens. While parenting is rarely a breeze, Senior's family portraits illuminate how children deepen and add purpose to our lives.

Until recently, parenting advice was almost exclusively aimed at mothers. In How Not to F*ck Up Your Kids Too Bad, Stephen Marche speaks directly to fathers, narrating his work with clarity, empathy, and humor. Despite its lighter tone, this Audible Original tackles some serious topics. From effective discipline to tricky issues like screen time and conversations about racism, Marche talks directly and unflinchingly about what fathers—and mothers, too—can do to be better parents. Avoiding quick fixes., the author's honest approach highlights the work and rewards that come with simple practices like making more eye contact and yelling less. And as Marche dives into each topic, his passion for parenting becomes all the more clear.

If you're a person who values reliable information, Cribsheet offers a welcome voice of reason. An economics professor and mom of two, Emily Oster knows that there's a plethora of rules and conventional wisdom about parenting floating out there—and it's often conflicting. To fight misinformation about everything from breastfeeding to potty training to language acquisition, she digs into the data to provide new parents with the insights and tools they need to make the best choices for themselves and their kids. Coupled with the competent, reassuring delivery of narrator Karissa Decker, this listen cuts through parenting myths and provides positive alternatives.

Seeking the answer to raising calmer, happier kids? Maybe it truly is brain science. In The Whole-Brain Child, neuroscientist Daniel J. Siegel and parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson clearly explain how a child's brain is wired and develops, and then provide 12 strategies to help parents understand and work with it. Narrated by the authors in a way that's engaging and makes the brain's complicated inner workings easy to grasp, this listen talks parents through how to tame right-brain tensions through left-brain storytelling, keep their little one thinking and listening rather than purely reacting, safely guide their child through the passing storms of negative emotions, and more.

Most books about parenting are written for white, biological, married moms—a fact that Nefertiti Austin, a single Black woman, was unable to escape when she decided to adopt a baby boy out of the foster care system. As she struggled with criticism, stereotypes, society's expectations, and the woeful lack of resources for moms like her, she began exploring the history of adoption in African American communities and considering the realities of raising a child of color in our racially charged country. Performed by Emmy Award winner Allyson Johnson, Motherhood So White is at once a deeply personal memoir and an important contribution to the conversation about parenting, which ultimately affirms the one universal requirement: love.

What are American parents missing out on? That's the question NPR reporter Michaeleen Doucleff found herself pondering soon after she became a mother. In Hunt, Gather, Parent, she shares her journey, accompanied by her three-year-old daughter, to learn parenting strategies from families in three of the world’s most venerable communities—Mayans in Mexico, Inuits above the Arctic Circle, and the Hadzabe in Tanzania. Narrating her own work, Doucleff reveals how these cultures excel at raising kind, generous, helpful, calm, and confident children—without yelling, nagging, bribing, chore charts, or timeouts. Along with insights from psychologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, and sociologists, she offers practical takeaways to help modern parents do what ancient cultures do best—build a personal, empowering relationship with young children.

Mei-Ling Hopgood, originally from Michigan, moved to Buenos Aires shortly after she became a first-time mom, and was shocked at how Argentinian mothers didn't enforce a bedtime. Then, she became curious—how do other countries differ when it comes to parenting? Thus began her exploration into parenting practices around the world, gleaning the best bits of advice from far-flung cultures to offer new parents a global perspective on parenting babies and toddlers. Fresh and engaging, How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm will introduce you to diverse approaches to parenting and open your mind to unfamiliar gems of wisdom.

When Pamela Druckerman gave birth to her first child in Paris, she didn’t set out to analyze the differences between American and French parents. However, after noticing a few stark contrasts, she couldn’t help but marvel at how French children seemed not only better behaved but also far more autonomous than their peers across the Atlantic. In Bringing Up Bébé, Druckerman, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, reveals surprising secrets to raising good little sleepers and gourmet eaters with a healthy sense of curiosity while being a more relaxed parent. Whether or not you’re looking to fine-tune your own style of parenting, this listen’s warm, charming assessment of the universal parenting experience is bound to land close to home.

Achtung Baby offers another view on what American moms and dads can learn about parenting from a different culture. Soon after Sara Zaske moved from Oregon to Berlin with her toddler in tow and a second baby on the way, she was surprised to discover how much freedom German parents allowed their kids—and how they didn't seem to worry about letting them engage in "dangerous" activities, from walking to school by themselves to cutting food with sharp knives. Interweaving interviews with other parents, teachers, and caregivers with often funny stories about her own family, the author-narrator shares what German parents taught her about raising kids to be curious, adventurous, responsible, and self-reliant.

What better place to wrap up our European tour of parenting than the happiest country in the world? In The Danish Way of Parenting, Jessica Joelle Alexander, a journalist and cultural researcher, and Dissing Sandahl, a psychotherapist, reveal the secrets to raising happy, successful kids like the moms and dads in Denmark do. The coauthors distill the winning Danish formula into 6 essential principles, which spell out P-A-R-E-N-T. ("P" is for play!) Narrated by voice actress Kim Mai Guest, this practical, proven, and upbeat parenting guide is also wonderfully efficient, clocking in at just under three and a half hours.

As many parents know, kids today overwhelmingly experience pressure to do and be their best. As a result, even high-performing kids often feel stressed out and suffer from burn out. After years of observing this problem from different angles, Dr. William Stixrud, a clinical neuropsychologist, and Ned Johnson, who runs an elite test prep service for teens, put their heads together to analyze the effects of pressure on motivation. Drawing on brain science, behavioral therapy, and insights from the authors' work with thousands of young people, The Self-Driven Child gives parents valuable tips and tools to help their kids unlock their full-potential. Touching on topics from screen time to anxiety, this book demonstrates the value of giving children and teens more control over their lives, and shows how to do that without giving up all authority as a parent.

Why do some kids get so easily agitated by change and frustrated by tasks? In The Explosive Child, Dr. Ross W. Greene has good news—these kids aren't attention-seeking manipulators and their parents aren't pushovers. Based on his decades of working with thousands of children with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges, Dr. Greene shares a critical finding—more often than not, kids prone to outbursts and meltdowns lack the ability to be flexible and consider alternatives. Narrating his own meticulously researched work with insight and compassion, Dr. Greene offers a framework to help parents avoid explosions by collaborating with their kids on problem solving. Concise and practical, this listen has the potential to make life much calmer for many families.

Ask almost any parent and they'll agree—one of the toughest challenges of raising children is communication. For decades, frustrated parents have turned to "the parenting Bible" (Boston Globe), Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish's bestselling How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk. In this follow-up, Adele’s daughter, Joanna Faber, and coauthor Julie King tailor the classic's tried-and-trusted communication strategies to help parents deal with common childhood challenges and troubling topics, from tantrums to sibling battles to technology. Featuring lively real-life stories and entertaining exercises, How to Talk When Kids Won’t Listen offers real solutions to struggles familiar to every parent—and many grandparents too.

Life can be stressful for grown-ups too—so, it's easy for even the most conscientious parent to lose their cool and snap at a finicky, stubborn, or whiny kid. Mindfulness mentor Hunter Clarke-Fields is an expert on developing skills for calming your own difficult emotions, and she's also a mom. In Raising Good Humans, she shares her proven, practical strategies to help moms and dads break free of "reactive parenting" habits and reap the benefits. As the author attests, based on research and personal experience, when you respond to kids with patience, respect, attention, and caring, kids in turn will learn to act with thoughtfulness and kindness. Yes, it's possible to build a more caring and peaceful world, one family at a time.

On tough days, you might feel like you're a bad parent to a bad kid—and not only because a judgmental stranger in the supermarket tells you so. A clinical psychologist and mother of three, Dr. Becky Kennedy (known to her many Instagram followers as "Dr. Becky") has a radical parenting philosophy based on a simple but profound truth—no parent or kid is "bad." There are only good parents struggling to do their jobs well and good kids having a hard time. In Good Inside, Dr. Becky shares insights and strategies to help parents move from frustration, shame, and self-blame to strong leadership, based on a secure connection with their child. Voiced by Dr. Becky herself, this uplifting listen is as much about self-development as child-rearing, and you'll come away empowered to set your kid up for a lifetime of resilience and all good things.

Social media, cyberbullying, sexting, extreme academic stressors, climate havoc, a pandemic, school shootings—life as usual for teens today is nothing like any parent experienced growing up. So, how can you genuinely relate and provide relevant, helpful guidance when your child feels anxious, overwhelmed, or worse, hopeless? In Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety, psychologist and motivational speaker Dr. John Duffy walks moms and dads through everything they need to know about their child's world and then provides compassionate, realistic strategies to help their child manage it all, issue by issue. With listen, you can become a trusted compass for your child throughout the turbulence of 21st-century adolescence.

Working in academia, Julie Lythcott-Haims has witnessed the ways in which overparenting harms young people, their stressed-out parents, and society at large. Drawing on research, conversations with educators and employers, and her own insights as a student dean and a mom, she offers an alternative approach to parenting, grounded in letting kids make and learn from their own mistakes. Narrated by the author, How to Raise an Adult shares practical strategies to help kids develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and determination to succeed. Whether you're the parent of a toddler or a teen, if you want your child to be capable and confident, this is a must-listen.

Sometimes, the last thing you need is an advice book telling you what you're doing wrong as a parent. Sometimes, you just need someone to commiserate with. The duo behind the wildly popular web series #IMomSoHard, Kristin Hensley and Jen Smedley definitely relate. In their debut audiobook, which they naturally narrate themselves, these moms don't judge or preach—or mince words. With a mix of real talk about experiences like postpartum depression and laugh-out-loud best-friend banter, Hensley and Smedley offer support to anyone in the parenting trenches. After a long, hard day of parenting when you want to feel like someone knows what you're going through, turn to #IMomSoHard, and then kick back and chuckle at it all.