How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes: Science-Based Strategies for Better Parenting from Tots to Teens

Journalist Wenner Moyer debuts with a winning strategy for cultivating kindness in kids and guiding them toward a “happy, successful life” from toddlerhood through adolescence. Parents are facing a “crisis of kindness,” she writes: while a vast majority of parents wish to instill kindness in their children, the same majority thinks most children are disrespectful. As such, Wenner Meyer lays out a science-based approach to instilling empathy, helpfulness, and honesty in kids. She candidly translates psychological frameworks (for example, the theory of mind is “the ability to put oneself in someone else’s shoes and understand their perspective”) and shares plenty of advice that sounds like sheer good sense—she recommends authoritative parenting, for example, which combines nurturing with rules and limits. At the root of things is simple communication: “Sometimes,” she writes, “we really do need to spell the obvious things out to our children.” Blending an upbeat, humorous tone (“If all of this makes you want to throw up your hands and drown yourself in wine, I get it”) with straightforward advice, Wenner Moyer crafts a winning guide for parents who wish to build a “better, fairer, stronger world.” This delightful mix of strategy and humor shouldn’t be missed. (July)