Book Review - Soul to Soul Parenting

Many parents hope and work for a close relationship with their children - essentially a side-by-side relationship. In Soul to Soul Parenting, Annie Burnside advocates an even deeper parent-child relationship -- one that is soul-to-soul.

In Soul to Soul Parenting, Annie Burnside shares her own and her family's journey to deeper spiritual meaning and offers 22 parenting "vehicles" for integrating spirituality into family life.

Once in a great while, an author comes along with a concept and approach that causes the reader to look at the world with a new perspective. If you are feeling that something deeper and more meaningful is missing in your family's life, then Annie Burnside may be the author that opens your eyes to new thought and light.

Annie Burnside's Soul to Soul Parenting is both inspiring and practical in its approach to building a greater spiritual foundation in a family. She shares a personal account of her own journey to deeper spiritual awareness and how she has implemented at home what she learned, bringing her family to a new level.

Soul to Soul Parenting includes 22 very practical "parenting vehicles" for deepening family spirituality. Some of her vehicles I found particularly interesting involved family rituals, weekly family discussions, music, art and nature. Each of the short passages involving these teaching methods is at once inspiring and down-to-earth practical.

For me, the best part of the book was the section on dealing with spiritual themes at home. Each theme chapter blends theory with practice over several pages and then includes recommended family activities to bring these spiritual principles into your family's life. Finally, in each theme chapter, there is a list of books, movies and songs that help reinforce that theme.

Her themes include, among others:

• The Physical Body, A Sacred Vessel
• Oneness and Individuation
• Cause and Effect, Natural Consequences and Free Will
• Authenticity and Joy
• Gratitude and Appreciation
• Trust and Faith

While we raised our family with a decidedly spiritual focus and I try to live a spiritually rich life, the ideas and principles included in Soul to Soul Parenting offered insights and ideas for doing even better. I recommend this book strongly to any parent who feels a need for something deeper or for greater spiritual connectedness. Fathers with that sense of the spiritual will find an effective roadmap in Soul to Soul Parenting.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.