The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you will go.
- Dr. Seuss
Book Suggestions
Compiled from parents and teacher recommendations throughout the years, below is list of books, all related to gifted children. Having a gifted child or children (or even living with a companion that is gifted) can be challenging at times, but know that you are not alone!
Living With Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and the Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults by Susan Daniels and Michael M. Piechowski
Some of My Best Friends Are Books: Guiding Gifted Readers from Preschool to High School by Judith Wynn Halsted
Roeper Review says it all: “…should be on the shelf of every school library, whether that school offers gifted programming or not.”
The Spatial Child by John Philo Dixon
Although often a primary sign of giftedness, spatial ability may be unrecognized, misdiagnosed or misunderstood. Describes ways to identify spatial children and methods of classroom instruction, with emphasis on approaches that encourage the spatial gift while compensating for possible deficiencies…
Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner by Linda Kreger Silverman
The gifts of the right hemisphere… Adults and children alike will find in this book an opening to hidden abilities they may not even know they have…
Gifted Children: Myths And Realities by Ellen Winner
The Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child: Helping Your Child Thrive in an Extroverted World by Marti Olsen Laney Psy.D.
“Mellow out” They Say. If I Only Could: Intensities and Sensitivities of the Young and Bright by Michael M.
“The purpose of this book is to give voice to the emotional life of bright young people, to show how their intensities and sensitivities make them more alive, more creative, and more in love with the world and its wonders” (Chapter 1)
Dreamers, Discoverers and Dynamos : How to Help the Child Who Is Bright, Bored and Having Problems in School (was: The Edison Trait) by Lucy Jo Palladino
Gifted = Asynchronous Development, then Gifted/Special Needs = Asynchrony Squared by Lee Singer
The Gifted Adult: A Revolutionary Guide for Liberating Everyday Genius by Mary-Elaine Jacobsen
Are you relentlessly curious and creative, always willing to rock the boat in order to get things done… extremely energetic and focused, yet constantly switching gears… intensely sensitive, able to intuit subtly charged situations and decipher others’ feelings… a truth-teller who pushes toward perfection, driven by a sense of personal mission?
The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them by Elaine Aron
Highly sensitive children (HSCs) are born deeply reflective, sensitive to the subtle, and easily overwhelmed. These qualities can make for smart, conscientious, creative children, but with the wrong parenting or schooling, they can become unusually shy or timid, or begin acting out. HSCs are often mislabeled as overly inhibited, fearful, or “fussy,” or classified as “problem children” (and in some cases, misdiagnosed with disorders such as ADD)…
The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Elaine N. Aron
Are you easily overwhelmed by stimuli? Affected by other people’s moods? Easily startled? Do you need to withdraw during busy times to a private, quiet place? This book helps HSPs (Highly Sensitive Persons) to understand themselves and their sensitive trait and its impact on personal history, career, relationships, and inner life…
Accidental Genius by Kevin and Cassidy Kearney
Life with profoundly gifted children, experiences in dealing with school systems, and what happens to gifted girls.
An Anomaly: Parenting a Twice Exceptional Girl by Kiesa Kay
The Unwritten Rules of Friendship: Simple Strategies to Help Your Child Make Friends by Natalie Madorsky Elman & Eileen Kennedy-Moore
With chapters including The Vulnerable Child, The Intimidating Child, The Different Drummer, The Little Adult, and The Pessimistic Child, among others, this is a great tool for parents to help their gifted kids learn and understand the subtle art if being a friend!
Raising Topsy-Turvy Kids: Successfully Parenting Your Visual-Spatial Child by Alexandra Shires Golon
Sticks and Stones by Scott Cooper
Teaches self defense against bullying. Principles of assertiveness training in a form that children can understand: self-expression, disclosure, deflection, verbal repetition, and problem/conflict resolution skills. This Verbal Toolbox is divided into seven categories called Ways, each named for a different type of bird. For example, for assertive self-expression, use the Way of the Blue Jay. If your child finds it difficult to deal assertively with bothersome people, the expressive Blue Jay can teach her to tell people directly how she feels about things. Conflict resolution is taught by the Way of the Dove. Simple techniques such as The Coin Toss, Solution Time for more serious disputes, and The Cone of Silence, teach children to find solutions to their differences and conflicts. Powerful metaphors that children can grasp with their unconscious minds.
Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy And Successful Children by James R. Delisle
A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children by James T. Webb, Janet L. Gore, Edward R. Amend, and Arlene R. DeVries
Misdiagnosis And Dual Diagnoses Of Gifted Children And Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Asperger’s, Depression, And Other Disorders by James T. Webb, Edward R. Amend, Nadia E. Webb, and Jean Goerss
Crossover Children: A Sourcebook for Helping Children Who Are Gifted and Learning Disabled by Marlene Bireley
The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross W. Greene
Not ADHD, not ODD, but… explosive. Whether at home, school, or both, this book gives great insight and good advice into these often frustrating children…
Freeing Our Families From Perfectionism by Tom Greenspon
Perfectionism is not about doing our best. It’s not about the struggle for excellence, or the healthy striving for high goals. Perfectionism is about believing that if we can just do something perfectly, other people will love and accept us-and if we can’t, we’ll never be good enough. Perfectionism is a burden that takes a heavy toll…
Parenting Gifted Children: The Authoritative Guide From the National Association for Gifted Children by Donald Treffinger Ph.D., Tracy Inman, Jennifer Jolly, and Joan Franklin Smutny
Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook by Carol Fertig
The Gifted Kids’ Survival Guide: For Ages 10 & Under by Judy Galbraith
When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers: How to Meet Their Social and Emotional Needs by Ph.D. James R. Delisle and Judy Galbraith M.A.
Smart Kids with School Problems: Things to Know and Ways to Help by Priscilla L. Vail
“Conundrum kids” — the superb writer who can’t add, the talented speech maker who can’t write legibly. Provides practical suggestions and ideas for parents trying to decide when the child should start school and teachers trying to cope. Also covers students up through college and deals with the topics of visual learning, motor functioning, auditory learning, language and learning, and psychological problems, plus strategies for dealing with standardized tests the world of college…
Smart Talk: What Kids Say About Growing Up Gifted by Robert A. Shultz and James R. Delisle
Hundreds of kids from around the world, ages 4 to 12, share their deepest, truest thoughts about about peers, families, school, and their futures. Being gifted has its upside and downside, and the kids talk about both…
Smart Teens’ Guide to Living with Intensity: How to Get More Out of Life and Learning by Lisa Rivero
A guide for pre-teens and teens who are a little more… more intense, more creative, more interesting, and yes, sometimes even called “more 31.) difficult.” A teen’s perspective into growing up as a gifted teen today.
A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Teens: Living with Intense and Creative Adolescents by Lisa Rivero
The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What Do We Know? by Maureen Neihart, Sally M. Reis, Nancy M. Robinson, Sidney M. Moon
What does the research (slim as it is) tell us? Essential reading for those who wish to enable gifted students to develop their strengths and to position them to make the contributions of which they are capable.
Parenting With Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility by Jim Fay and Foster W. Cline
101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids – the ultimate handbook – by Christine Fonesca
Smart But Scattered by Peg Dawson
The revolutionary executive skills approach to helping kids reach their potential.