The Greatest Books of All Time on Parenting

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
265 Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton 1948 South African English
450 Way of All Flesh Samuel Butler 1903 British English
472 The Man Who Loved Children Christina Stead 1940 Australian English
686 Rabbit Is Rich John Updike 1981 American English
874 The Last Samurai Helen DeWitt 2000 American English
914 The Yearling Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1938 American English
995 Dombey and Son Charles Dickens 1846 British English
1103 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848 British English
1345 The Naked Ape Desmond Morris 1967 British English
1433 Random Family Adrian Nicole LeBlanc 2003 American English
1460 Never Mind Edward St Aubyn 1992 British English
1484 Independence Day Richard Ford 1995 American English
1547 What Maisie Knew Henry James 1897 American English
1671 The Ordeal Of Richard Feverel George Meredith 1859 British English
1703 The Argonauts Maggie Nelson 2015 American English
1783 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers 2000 American English
1830 Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Anne Tyler 1982 American English
2002 Freedom Jonathan Franzen 2010 American English
2183 Far From the Tree Andrew Solomon 2012 American English
2284 Goodnight Mister Tom Michelle Magorian 1981 British English
2587 Empire Falls Richard Russo 2001 American English
2663 Early Autumn Robert B. Parker 1980 American English
2670 This Boy's Life Tobias Wolff 1989 American English
2695 Pet Sematary Stephen King 1983 American English
3022 Diary Of A Provincial Lady E. M. Delafield 1930 British English
3174 Oblivion David Foster Wallace 2004 American English
3178 Priestdaddy Patricia Lockwood 2017 American English
3234 Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner 2005 American English
3311 Growing Up Russell Baker 1982 American English
3467 Kudos Rachel Cusk 2018 British English
3637 The Century Of The Child Ellen Key 1900 Swedish Swedish
3637 The Origins Of Intelligence In Children Jean Piaget 1936 Swiss French
3885 Lunar Park Bret Easton Ellis 2005 American English
4105 Summerhill Alexander Sutherland Neill 1960 British English
4214 The Beginning of Spring Penelope Fitzgerald 1988 British English
4570 No Kiss For Mother Tomi Ungerer 1973 French English
4596 Nora Webster Colm Toibin 2014 Irish English
4786 Sarah, Plain and Tall Patricia MacLachlan 1985 American English
4981 The Hare with Amber Eyes Edmund de Waal 2010 British English
4989 Territory Of Light Yuko Tsushima 1979 Japanese Japanese
5486 Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty 2014 Australian English
5491 The Slap Christos Tsiolkas 2008 Australian English
5635 A Life's Work Rachel Cusk 2001 British English
5652 Nothing To See Here Kevin Wilson 2019 American English
5668 For Your Own Good Alice Miller 1980 Swiss French
5720 Manhood For Amateurs Michael Chabon 2009 American English
5934 Small Fry Lisa Brennan-Jobs 2018 American English
5970 The Perfect Nanny Leïla Slimani 2016 French French
6098 Duke of Deception Geoffrey Wolff 1979 American English
6435 On Immunity Eula Biss 2014 American English
6737 Room Temperature Nicholson Baker 1990 American English
7216 The Duke's Children Anthony Trollope 1880 British English
7588 Commonwealth Ann Patchett 2016 American English
7669 Soldier Sailor Claire Kilroy 2024 Irish Unknown
8022 Loved And Missed Susie Boyt 2023 British English
8076 Nurture Shock Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman 2008 American English
8107 The Home Maker Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1924 American English
8144 Society Without The Father Unknown 1998 Unknown German
8626 Things In Nature Merely Grow Yiyun Li 2025 Unknown English
9111 Operating Instructions Anne Lamott 1993 American English
9154 The Curve Of Time M. Wylie Blanchet 1961 Canadian English
9262 Lit Mary Karr 2009 American English
9262 A Children’s Bible Lydia Millet, Xe Sands 2020 American English
9342 Born Twice Giuseppe Pontiggia 2000 Italian Italian
9566 Reviving Ophelia Mary Pipher 1994 American English
9654 The Dinner Herman Koch 2009 Dutch Dutch
9914 Miracle Creek Angie Kim 2019 American English
9939 My Sister's Keeper Jodi Picoult 2004 American English
10191 Little Soldiers Lenora Chu 2017 Unknown English
10263 Forever Pete Hamill 2002 American English
10403 Bata, Bata... Pa'no Ka Ginawa? Lualhati Bautista 1983 Filipino Filipino
10409 The Anxious Generation Jonathan Haidt 2024 American English
10525 Splinters Leslie Jamison 2024 Unknown English
10741 The Fifth Child Doris May Lessing 1988 British English
10993 Not Without My Daughter Betty Mahmoody 1987 American English
11273 The Need Helen Phillips 2019 American English
11436 Man And Boy Tony Parsons 1999 British English
11581 Family Pictures Sue Miller 1986 American English
11662 The Boy In The Moon Ian Brown 2009 Canadian English
11662 With A Daughter's Eye Mary Catherine Bateson 1984 American English
11940 Eden's Outcasts Jon Matteson 2007 American Unknown
12247 Cinderella Ate My Daughter Peggy Orenstein 2011 American English
12313 Yes Please Amy Poehler 2014 American English
12515 Alva Myrdal Sissela Bok 1991 Swedish Unknown
12515 A Mom's Life Kathryn Grody 1991 American English
12642 Dream School Jeffrey Selingo American English
12722 Notes To John Joan Didion 2025 American English
12745 Unfit Parent Jessica Slice Unknown English
12925 Second Life Amanda Hess 2025 Unknown English
13020 Fatherhood Augustine Sedgewick 2025 Unknown English
13279 Golden Child Claire Adam 2019 Trinidadian English
13592 The School For Good Mothers Jessamine Chan 2022 American English
13600 Les Enfants Gâtés Philippe Heriat French French
13790 Make Way For Ducklings Robert McCloskey 1941 American English
13967 Standard Deviation Katherine Heiny 2017 American English
13986 Parenting With Love And Logic Foster Cline 1990 American English
14019 The Maples Stories John Updike 2009 American English
14076 The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For Alison Bechdel 2008 American English
14092 The Idea Of You Robinne Lee 2017 American English
14168 This Is How It Always Is Laurie Frankel 2017 American English
14451 A Spool Of Blue Thread Anne Tyler 2015 American English
14554 The Deep End Of The Ocean Jacquelyn Mitchard 1996 American English
14630 Dad Is Fat Jim Gaffigan 2013 American English
14756 Letters To His Children Theodore Roosevelt 1919 American English
14764 Adelphoe Terence -160 Roman Latin
14874 Father And Son E. O. Plauen 1934 German German
14985 A Child Called 'It' Dave Pelzer 1995 American English
14985 A Home at the End of the World Michael Cunningham 1990 American English
14985 My Brother's Husband Gengoroh Tagame 2014 Japanese Japanese
14985 The Children's Bach Helen Garner 1984 Australian English
14985 God Of Carnage Yasmina Reza 2006 French French
14985 Bossypants Tina Fey 2011 American English
14985 The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards 2005 American English
14985 The Latecomer Jean Hanff Korelitz 2022 American English
14985 Above Ground Clint Smith 2023 American English
15594 Jennie Ralph G. Martin 1969 American English
15667 Look How Happy I'm Making You Polly Rosenwaike 2019 Unknown English
15754 My Father's Life (Continental Classics) Restif de La Bretonne 1779 French French
15915 Life Among The Savages Shirley Jackson 1953 American English
15915 Seven Little Australians Ethel Turner 1894 Australian English