Where have all the parenting books gone?

By Thomas Haller and Chick Moorman

It has happened again. This is not the first time. It occurred last week and the week before that. We suspect it will happen in the future, probably next week. Yes, the streak goes on. What streak? You may wonder. The streak of weeks in which no parenting book has been listed on the best-seller lists of the New York Times or USA Today.

A glance at USA Today this week reveals that John Grisham holds down the number one slot with the fiction book, The Associate. Also in the top ten are several books for young adult readers, several more fiction books, and Eat This, Not That: Supermarket Survival Guide.
The rest of the books in the top fifty include one relationship book, two by Barack Obama, Confessions of a Shopaholic, a book for strengthening intimacy, and a book about how people succeed. A book by Tony Dungy, a former National Football League coach, Carole King’s carbohydrate counter, and a book called The Slobbering Love Affair: The True and Pathetic Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media made the list. Several other fiction books fill out the list of the fifty top-selling books in the country this week.

What is wrong with this picture? Is something missing? There is in our minds. Where is the parenting book? Where is the book that parents eager to improve the most important job they will ever have can read to develop new skills? Where do they find helpful ideas for raising responsible, caring, conscious children in today’s world? Where do they find out how to parent like no one else so their children can grow up to be like no one else?

There is no parenting book on this list. What does that say? Does this mean that parents are more concerned about politics, dieting, or reading fiction than they are about learning to improve parenting skills? Is this a message about parental priorities? Are parents too busy to read? Is this about our culture and an indication of what we value? Are parents more concerned about watching television, preparing for their fantasy baseball team draft, or looking for work? Is parenting going so well in this country today that there is no need for parenting books?

We don’t have the answers to these questions. We don’t know the reason that no parenting book appears among the top fifty best-selling books on these lists. Yet, we’d like to see that changed.
How about you? What do you think? What is going on here? Does it even matter?

- Thomas Haller and Chick Moorman

Thomas Haller and Chick Moorman are the authors of The 10 Commitments: Parenting with Purpose. They are two of the world's foremost authorities on raising responsible, caring, confident children. They publish a free Uncommon Parenting blog.