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Tapping into expert advice is a great way to save time as a new dad. There’s no need to reinvent the diaper genie when countless parents and experts have already honed methods for preparing for fatherhood and caring for a newborn. Parenting books are one of the easiest ways to tap into that expertise, but the sheer volume of options can be overwhelming. If you’re searching for the best books for new or first-time dads, you don’t need 50,000 parenting titles. You need the right ones.
This list of the best books for first-time dads is a diverse combination of books I found valuable, books my partner recommends, and books recommended by other dads. There’s everything from practical advice on how to swaddle to emotional support for the psychological shift into fatherhood, and even an inspirational novel about what being a dad really means. Happy reading!
Curious about the best books for moms? Check out our article, The 10 Best Books For First-Time Moms.
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Quick Picks: Best Books For First-Time Dads
If you don’t have time to read all 11, start here:
- Best All-Around Guide: The Expectant Father
- Most Practical (Step-By-Step): The Simplest Baby Book in the World
- Best for Strengthening Your Relationship: Love by Design
- Best for Dividing Household Responsibilities: Fair Play
- Best Bite-Sized Daily Wisdom: The Daily Dad
1. The Simplest Baby Book in the World By Stephen Gross
If you are a visual learner, then this is the only book you will need as a first-time dad to feel prepared for the nitty-gritty of how to care for your baby. It’s not named “How To Have A Baby For Dummies,” but it could be! Every subject has drawings with clear instructions so that you can efficiently digest the “need to know” bits of parenthood. For example, they spell out and illustrate exactly how to swaddle your baby tightly, the right way to change diapers, what angle to tilt your baby when you feed them a bottle, how to bathe your baby safely, and generally what “must haves” you will need.
They even include tips that they call ‘Daddy Hacks’ that are designed to save you time, and money and address common issues, such as this one about newborn clothing: “If you are considering having more than one child, think about buying unisex white onesies, white socks, etc., so that you can use them for your second or third child.”
Another great “Daddy Hack'' is the ‘save the knees’ reminder on page 122 about how kneeling at the tub during bath time can be painful: “A simple trick is to take a couple of towels or a blanket and fold them over a few times to create a pad for your knees.” It’s a great reminder to help save your knees ahead of time, though personally, I’d skip the towels and buy the gray whale bathtime set (it blends with everything and the kids love it).
I love the illustrations and simple format of The Simplest Baby Book In The World, but if you’re looking for more of a traditional reference guide, Baby 411, Your Baby, Birth to Age 1 is another useful resource. It is quite dense though and I found it more useful as a reference once you are in the thick of it, especially if you choose to not hire a newborn care specialist (though I highly recommend you do!)
The Simplest Baby Book In The World is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, and Target.
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2. The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-to-Be By Armin A Brott
The Expectant Father attempts to be your male best friend, by sympathizing with the emotional toll of what preparing to be a dad feels like, including the financial burdens and unpredictability of what the future holds. My partner read this book, while I focused on “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” He said he felt thankful to have found a book that addressed the emotions of being an expectant father, rather than taking the stereotypical "masculine" approach and skirting the entire existence of feelings and only focusing on practical, task-driven advice.
Author Armin Brott says he wrote the book because he was shocked by the lack of information out there for dads when he was expecting his first kid.
“What inspired me was just being pissed off that there were no resources for me as an expectant father back then,” Brott says. “There was no information on how my life was going to change, how I should be involved, what I should be doing or learning or thinking about, or who I should talk to. So I decided ultimately that I would have to write the book that I wish I would have had.”
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Brott talked to countless experts and says he read every study he could get his hands on that looked at fatherhood.
“Emotionally and psychologically, the transition from being a non-parent to being a parent is just as profound for men, as it is for women,” he says. “There's a lot of stuff going on in there, and I wanted people to know that whatever kinds of things they're feeling and they're worried about and concerned about, are not abnormal.”
One thing he found was that the earlier dads get involved, the more involved they’re going to be in the life of their child, which has all sorts of benefits.
“So that was one of the missions I had in writing the book, was to give dads a way to be involved during the pregnancy,” he says.
Each chapter is divided into four sections: what’s going on with your partner, what’s going on with the baby, what’s going on with you, and how you can stay involved.
Brott has also written several follow-up books that focus on the different stages of your baby’s life and one book that’s specifically for single fathers.
The Expectant Father is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, and Walmart.
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3. Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes A Baby's Brain By Sue Gerhardt
This book is very much for first-time dads who are into science and want to know the why. Sue Gerhardt looks at years of research into how babies’ brains develop. She helps connect emotional resilience to brain development and looks at how loving interactions and relationships early on have lasting positive impacts. On the flip side, she also shows how stressful environments can do the opposite by affecting the brain’s emotion and immune systems. As a dad, there is so much you can do to create a loving environment for your new baby that has little to do with tasks, as much as interactions.
Why Love Matters is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, and Walmart.
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4. The Road By Cormac McCarthy
This book was nominated for our list by Paul Sullivan, the founder of The Company of Dads, a group dedicated to “lead dads” who take on the bulk of household duties for their families. The Road is a novel set in a post-apocalyptic world about a father and son fighting to survive. It’s not what typically comes to mind when you think of the best books for first-time dads, but Sullivan says he found the book’s themes about fatherhood inspiring, and when he thinks back about influential books he read prior to becoming a dad, this is the one that stands out the most.
“The Road is probably the most powerful book I've ever read before I had kids that describes what a father will feel when he becomes a father,” he says. “What really moves me [in the book] is that the father won't give up. There is no hope, there's no way out, but the father is trying as hard as he can to save his child. And that to me, is sort of the essence of what it means to be a father and a dad — having this pure love for your child, trying to solve an unstoppable problem, never quitting.”
The Road is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart.
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5. Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff, PhD
My partner and I both read this book, which focuses on the importance of raising independent children. It aligns closely with the “choices within limits” parenting philosophy popularized by the Montessori method. The principles are best applied to young toddlers, but I find that adjusting your mindset prior to becoming a new parent is the first step in modeling a different way for your children to follow. This can include how you communicate, deal with conflict, and approach a TEAM-first mentality to parenting.
One of the broad takeaways of the book is that children have a natural desire to actively help their family (or whatever definition of community they are given from a young age), and we are best served by harnessing that innate trait and fostering it from an early age. The typical approach is to stifle that desire because we don't trust little ones to take on tasks. But then later after it’s already been stifled, we try to revive it through carrot-and-stick measures like allowances and treats or punishments and verbal admonishments. The author instead suggests that if we choose to trust toddlers with real tasks and take the extra time and patience to show them how to do things, then we'll raise family-conscious contributors without all the bartering and payoffs parents typically do later on: “If you do this for me, then you can have an extra dessert later.”
Although it can be reductive at times, it definitely has some interesting food for thought for first-time dads!
Hunt, Gather, Parent is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart.
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6. The Life of Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood from Today's Leaders, Icons, and Legendary Dads By Jon Finkel and Art Eddy
This book features wisdom and advice from different dads, including celebrities, writers, and athletes.
“I like it because it is a compilation of a ton of dad wisdom from all different perspectives and different types of fathers,” says Beau Coffron, the dad behind the Lunch Box Dad Instagram account. “You can read it in bite-sized chunks a little at a time and be able to apply practical advice that day.”
Coffron says one of his favorite sections is the interview with football coach Herm Edwards who talks about how hard work and character go hand in hand.
Side note: If you’re not already, I absolutely recommend following Coffron on Instagram. He creates the most adorable lunches and snacks for his kids – like a Minion-themed lunch – and shares family-friendly recipes.
The Life of Dad is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), and Barnes & Noble.
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7. The Family Firm By Emily Oster
This book sets the tone for the family environment you want to create and how to approach making decisions as parents, whether it’s related to encouraging independence or figuring out what age to start sending your kid to school. The book does focus on the early school years when there are more activities and school drop-offs to coordinate, but it does a great job of introducing you to the concept of home management in parenthood. It looks at how managing a household as a parent is NOT the same as getting all your shit done as a high-functioning adult with a full-time job.
Oster, who’s a professor of economics and a mother of two, offers some practical advice about the importance of shared calendars and planning your week. But the best nugget in the book is focused on applying the same principles of a business plan to your family home, hence the title “Family Firm.” It provides a useful framework for approaching your part of the decision-making.
The Family Firm is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart.
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8. Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
Fair Play by Eve Rodsky is one of the best books for first-time moms and dads. It provides a concrete system for conversations around household tasks with the aim of getting both partners to share more responsibility in the home — not equally, but equitably. It goes through four rules, 100 household tasks, and various conversation starters to help you and your partner decide who should take the lead on which household chore.
It’s especially helpful for first-time dads who want to be proactive about sharing responsibility from the beginning, rather than reacting to burnout later on. Despite the fact that more women are working, they still are predominantly the ones taking on the invisible labor of managing a family — a full-time job itself! This includes the mental load of anticipating the family’s needs and overseeing tasks, like booking doctors’ appointments, filling out daycare forms, and keeping track of deadlines. Fair Play provides a useful framework for understanding everything that goes into a task and what "owning" it truly means.
If both of you are already maxed out and can't imagine taking on more responsibility at home, check out our article Fair Play Cards, Made Doable: What To Delegate When You’re Carrying Too Much.
Fair Play is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), and Barnes & Noble.
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9. The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman
Prioritizing your relationship with your partner is just as important as nurturing your baby, but you’ve got to put in the work. That’s why I think The 5 Love Languages is one of the best books for first-time dads navigating partnership and parenthood. Good intent is one thing, but it takes being brave enough to be actionable to reconnect with your partner after a baby, and surprisingly, it’s not all physical action.
The Five Love Languages outlines five primary “love languages” — acts of service, words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, and gifts — and explains why partners often express love in different ways. Over time, that mismatch in how you express love can quietly create distance. This book provides a framework and inspiration to better show your love to your partner, even as your lives are consumed by all that having a new baby entails. And when each partner feels loved, you work better as a team and your child thrives.
If you’re looking for something more structured and exercise-based, Love by Design by relationship expert Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh is another strong option. Oftentimes, transition periods — like having a new baby! — can strain a relationship. As Dr. Nasserzadeh explained in our article on Why Couples Counseling For Parents Is Important: “Anything that requires an excess amount of your resources can plant the seeds for conflict." Her book goes through what she considers to be the 6 most important ingredients for developing a strong foundation for love and provides dozens of exercises and reflection prompts to help couples stay connected.
The 5 Love Languages is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart. Love by Design is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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10. The Daily Dad: 366 Meditations on Parenting, Love, and Raising Great Kids By Ryan Holiday
You might be familiar with Ryan Holiday from his bestselling book The Daily Stoic, which features daily meditations from some of the world’s greatest minds. He applies that same concept to The Daily Dad. Each day has a meditation related to parenting, love, or raising kids. Similar to The Life of Dad book above, it’s another book filled with short nuggets that you can read, digest, and apply to your life each day. It has lessons and thoughts from historical figures like Theodore Roosevelt, musicians like Bruce Springsteen, and writers like Toni Morrison. Each month focuses on a different theme. For example, January is “Teach By Example,” while March is “Put Your Family First.” Though I’ve included it on my list of best books for first-time dads, the advice and guidance are applicable to dads at any parenting stage.
The Daily Dad is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart.
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11. Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters by Meg Meeker
This is a great Christian-focused book for any first-time girl dads. Written by pediatrician and teen health expert Meg Meeker, it focuses on why an involved father figure is really important to a young woman’s development. This book will be more helpful once your daughter is a toddler, but it doesn’t hurt to get in the right mindset about why your presence and love matter. Meeker also wrote Strong Mothers, Strong Sons which makes the same point about being an active parent in your children's lives by prioritizing quality time. Meeker does write from a Christian perspective with a focus on faith and spirituality, so if you aren’t religious you might want to skip this book.
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters is available at Amazon, Bookshop (for those who want to support independent bookstores), Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart.
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Beyond The Best Books For First-Time Dads
The best books for first-time dads cover a range of topics from the nitty-gritty of swaddling and bottle feeding to tips for strengthening your relationship during this life-changing milestone. After you read these books, you’ll have insight into what’s going on with your partner during pregnancy, guidance on how your own psyche is changing as you prepare to become a dad, inspiration on what being a father means, and new ideas and frameworks for thinking about parenting and managing a household.
For more resources for new dads, check out some of our top blog posts:
- 5 Life-Changing Tips for New Dads (From Dads)
- Taking Care of A Newborn - The Experts You Need
- Why Couples Counseling For Parents Is Important
Have another question about parenthood, newborns, or managing a household? Text Ask Proxy™ — (820) 732-2625 — and in minutes, you'll get a clear answer. Proxy is a personal AI assistant for home life — completely private and available by text. Anything you're overthinking, wondering about, debating with your partner, or about to Google or research yourself, you can ask Proxy instead.
