5 Great Books for Parents of Gifted Children

Five Books About Gifted Children

Ender’s Game
Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind
Emotional Intensity in Gifted Children
The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Children
A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students

Gifted children are, by definition, exceptional. That’s why you need exceptional books to navigate the experience of parenting them. With this collection of five great books for parenting gifted children, you’ll find a novel to read with your child, a research-based guide to advocating for your child and multiple how-to guides to get you through this challenge.

1. Ender’s Game

This award-winning YA fiction book follows three gifted children as they’re recruited and trained by mysterious government forces. Parents will enjoy the complicated (but kid-friendly) moral dilemmas, while gifted kids will see themselves in the protagonists. This is a great book to read as a family, but it contains some violence and scary situations. Young children may need to wait a few years before reading.

2. Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind

You’re not alone. That’s the key message of Deborah L. Ruf’s book, which includes stories from dozens of families with gifted children. Whatever struggles your family is facing, you’ll find support here. Ruf also include detailed lists of resources and challenges for parents. She helpfully breaks down five different levels of gifted children and the behaviors and difficulties each group will face. Plus, she includes a guide for finding the right school for your child and talking to school officials. Overall, this is a great handbook for parent with gifted children as Ruf covers support systems, public education and current policy issues without diving too deep into any one topic.

3. Emotional Intensity in Gifted Children

One of the hardest parts of parenting advanced children can be dealing with their emotional extremes. They might bounce between frustration with the slow pace of school, excitement over learning something new and ostracization over having trouble making friends. Gifted children can be hard to parent, especially if you don’t feel gifted yourself. Christine Foneca has written an easy-to-read guide on managing your gifted child’s emotional extremes. You’ll find case studies, worksheets and checklists for you, your child and your child’s teachers. You’ll also get child-specific strategies for managing difficult emotion situations. This is a great book to read through with your child.

4. The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Children

This book was first published in 1991. Since then, countless parents have turned to Dr. Sally Walker, Executive Director of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children, to guide them through raising gifted children. Dr. Walker gives you all the tips you need to help your child thrive, including how to recognize if your child is gifted, how to handle their over-the-top thirst for knowledge and how to provide the right level of learning opportunities for your kid.

5. A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students

If you’re ready to get fired up, read this report. Researchers summarize the broad spectrum of literature in the field, arguing that gifted children deserve accelerated classes. They deflate common counter-arguments against letting students skip grades or enter kindergarten early. The report led to the founding of the Acceleration Institute, which continues to argue for the needs of gifted students.

Gifted children come from gifted parents. You have the strength to raise your gifted child, and these five book will give you the tools you need to excel in this journey.