The Open Shelf Good Protocols
Reading settings

The shelf on paper

The whole shelf as one list, made to print and carry. Take it to any library branch — a librarian can find every title from here — or stick it on the refrigerator and circle what looks right.

The Open Shelf · shelf.goodprotocols.org · a free formation library from Good Protocols, Columbia City, South Seattle. Every title below can be borrowed free: ask at any Seattle Public Library or King County Library branch, or search seattle.bibliocommons.com. The library card is free for everyone — no status, no fees.

The parent's own shelf (for grown-ups)

  • The Room Your Family Has Been Looking For · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • Reading the Grain · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • On Children — On Children (from The Prophet) · Kahlil Gibran · English, Arabic
  • Uniquely Human — Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism · Barry M. Prizant
  • Thinking in Pictures — Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism · Temple Grandin
  • Far From the Tree — Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity · Andrew Solomon
  • NeuroTribes — NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity · Steve Silberman
  • Unmasking Autism — Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity · Devon Price
  • Parenting at the Intersections — Parenting at the Intersections: Raising Neurodivergent Children of Color · Jaya Ramesh & Priya Saaral
  • Sincerely, Your Autistic Child · Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (eds.)
  • Braiding Sweetgrass — Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants · Robin Wall Kimmerer
  • Le piccole virtù — The Little Virtues · Natalia Ginzburg · Italian, English
  • Paula · Isabel Allende · Spanish, English
  • Hunt, Gather, Parent — Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans · Michaeleen Doucleff
  • Parenting Without Borders — Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us · Christine Gross-Loh
  • The Danish Way of Parenting — The Danish Way of Parenting: What the Happiest People in the World Know About Raising Confident, Capable Kids · Jessica Joelle Alexander & Iben Sandahl · English, Danish
  • There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather — There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids · Linda Åkeson McGurk
  • The Anthropology of Childhood — The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings · David F. Lancy
  • The Cultural Nature of Human Development · Barbara Rogoff
  • The Intelligence Nobody Tested · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • The Second Window and the First · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • To the Parent Carrying It Alone · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • Two Threads, One Cloth · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • The Double Window · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • You Are the First Teacher · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • Ordinary Magic · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • Graduated Togetherness · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • Holding the Room · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • What Every Family Carries · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • What It Feels Like to Be Your Child · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • The Father's Quiet Work · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • The Road Ahead · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • One Child, Many Rooms · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • Immigrants All · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • A Letter to the Educator · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • Making Room · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • The Table They Cannot Take · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • The Father's Formation · Paul Tan · Good Protocols
  • The Power of Showing Up · Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
  • The Whole-Brain Child · Daniel J. Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
  • Transcend — Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization · Scott Barry Kaufman
  • Culture Care — Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life · Makoto Fujimura
  • Unverfügbarkeit — The Uncontrollability of the World · Hartmut Rosa · German, English
  • Slow Productivity — Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout · Cal Newport
  • Designing Your Life — Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life · Bill Burnett & Dave Evans
  • Extreme Ownership — Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win · Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
  • The Wave in the Mind — The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination · Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Planting Seeds — Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children · Thich Nhat Hanh & the Plum Village Community
  • What Are People For? — What Are People For? Essays · Wendell Berry
  • Bowling Alone — Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community · Robert D. Putnam
  • Rest, Play, Grow — Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (or Anyone Who Acts Like One) · Deborah MacNamara
  • The Gardener and the Carpenter — The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children · Alison Gopnik
  • Beyond Behaviors — Beyond Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children's Behavioral Challenges · Mona Delahooke
  • A Child's Work — A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play · Vivian Gussin Paley
  • The World According to Mister Rogers — The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember · Fred Rogers
  • Good Inside — Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be · Becky Kennedy
  • The Emotional Lives of Teenagers — The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents · Lisa Damour
  • The Self-Driven Child — The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives · William Stixrud & Ned Johnson
  • You Are What You Love — You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit · James K. A. Smith
  • The Sabbath — The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man · Abraham Joshua Heschel · English, Hebrew
  • Embers — Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations · Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)
  • Ich und Du — I and Thou · Martin Buber · German, English
  • The Mind of the Maker · Dorothy L. Sayers
  • Attente de Dieu — Waiting for God · Simone Weil · French, English
  • Adam: God's Beloved · Henri J. M. Nouwen
  • Jesus and the Disinherited · Howard Thurman
  • The Master and His Emissary — The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World · Iain McGilchrist
  • The Ecology of Human Development — The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design · Urie Bronfenbrenner
  • The Dyslexic Advantage — The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain · Brock Eide & Fernette Eide
  • A River Runs Through It — A River Runs Through It and Other Stories · Norman Maclean
  • Gilead · Marilynne Robinson
  • Shop Class as Soulcraft — Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work · Matthew B. Crawford
  • Falling Upward — Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life · Richard Rohr
  • As Kingfishers Catch Fire · Gerard Manley Hopkins

The lap shelf (birth to about six)

  • A Day With No Words · Tiffany Hammond, ill. Kate Cosgrove
  • I Talk Like a River · Jordan Scott, ill. Sydney Smith
  • The Snowy Day · Ezra Jack Keats
  • Owl Babies · Martin Waddell, ill. Patrick Benson
  • The Kissing Hand · Audrey Penn · English, Spanish
  • The Rabbit Listened · Cori Doerrfeld
  • The Invisible String · Patrice Karst · English, Spanish
  • A Friend for Henry · Jenn Bailey, ill. Mika Song
  • A Handful of Quiet — A Handful of Quiet: Happiness in Four Pebbles · Thich Nhat Hanh
  • Fry Bread — Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story · Kevin Noble Maillard (Seminole), ill. Juana Martinez-Neal
  • Thank You, Omu! · Oge Mora
  • Hair Love · Matthew A. Cherry, ill. Vashti Harrison
  • Eyes That Kiss in the Corners · Joanna Ho, ill. Dung Ho
  • Alma and How She Got Her Name · Juana Martinez-Neal · English, Spanish
  • Drawn Together · Minh Lê, ill. Dan Santat
  • Watercress · Andrea Wang, ill. Jason Chin
  • A Different Pond · Bao Phi, ill. Thi Bui
  • Mama, Do You Love Me? · Barbara M. Joosse, ill. Barbara Lavallee
  • Sulwe · Lupita Nyong'o, ill. Vashti Harrison

First books of their own (about six to ten)

  • Frederick · Leo Lionni · English, Spanish
  • Zen Shorts · Jon J. Muth
  • The Three Questions · Jon J. Muth (after Tolstoy)
  • Ox-Cart Man · Donald Hall, ill. Barbara Cooney
  • Galimoto · Karen Lynn Williams, ill. Catherine Stock
  • A Chair for My Mother · Vera B. Williams · English, Spanish
  • Last Stop on Market Street · Matt de la Peña, ill. Christian Robinson · English, Spanish
  • The Girl Who Thought in Pictures — The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin · Julia Finley Mosca, ill. Daniel Rieley
  • Mikey and the Dragons · Jocko Willink
  • Those Shoes · Maribeth Boelts, ill. Noah Z. Jones
  • Roxaboxen · Alice McLerran, ill. Barbara Cooney
  • Catwings · Ursula K. Le Guin, ill. S. D. Schindler
  • Where the Wild Things Are · Maurice Sendak
  • Fly Away Home · Eve Bunting, ill. Ronald Himler
  • Just Ask! — Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You · Sonia Sotomayor, ill. Rafael López · English, Spanish
  • Emmanuel's Dream — Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah · Laurie Ann Thompson, ill. Sean Qualls
  • Separate Is Never Equal — Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation · Duncan Tonatiuh
  • Soñadores — Dreamers · Yuyi Morales · English, Spanish
  • The Old Truck · Jarrett Pumphrey & Jerome Pumphrey
  • Grandfather's Journey · Allen Say
  • The Keeping Quilt · Patricia Polacco
  • The Word Collector · Peter H. Reynolds

The middle years (about nine to thirteen)

  • 窓ぎわのトットちゃん — Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window · Tetsuko Kuroyanagi · Japanese, English, Vietnamese, Spanish
  • A Kind of Spark · Elle McNicoll
  • The Someday Birds · Sally J. Pla
  • Frankie's World · Aoife Dooley
  • When Stars Are Scattered · Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed
  • Momo · Michael Ende · German, English
  • The Phantom Tollbooth · Norton Juster, ill. Jules Feiffer
  • When You Reach Me · Rebecca Stead
  • The Tale of Despereaux · Kate DiCamillo
  • Hatchet · Gary Paulsen
  • The Wild Robot · Peter Brown
  • Inside Out & Back Again · Thanhhà Lại · English, Vietnamese
  • Brown Girl Dreaming · Jacqueline Woodson
  • Way of the Warrior Kid · Jocko Willink
  • Front Desk · Kelly Yang
  • Other Words for Home · Jasmine Warga
  • Efrén Divided · Ernesto Cisneros · English, Spanish
  • New Kid · Jerry Craft
  • Merci Suárez Changes Gears · Meg Medina
  • Amal Unbound · Aisha Saeed
  • The Bridge Home · Padma Venkatraman
  • Wishtree · Katherine Applegate
  • The Birchbark House · Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe)

The teenager's shelf (thirteen and up)

  • Please Don't Hug Me · Kay Kerr
  • Diary of a Young Naturalist · Dara McAnulty
  • Born on a Blue Day — Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant · Daniel Tammet
  • Strong Female Character · Fern Brady
  • A Wizard of Earthsea · Ursula K. Le Guin
  • The Hobbit — The Hobbit, or There and Back Again · J. R. R. Tolkien
  • Long Way Down · Jason Reynolds
  • The Poet X · Elizabeth Acevedo · English, Spanish
  • American Born Chinese · Gene Luen Yang
  • Born a Crime — It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime (Adapted for Young Readers) · Trevor Noah
  • The Left Hand of Darkness · Ursula K. Le Guin
  • The Hate U Give · Angie Thomas
  • I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter · Erika L. Sánchez
  • Darius the Great Is Not Okay · Adib Khorram
  • The Sun Is Also a Star · Nicola Yoon
  • We Are Not Free · Traci Chee
  • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe · Benjamin Alire Sáenz
  • Clap When You Land · Elizabeth Acevedo
  • The Fire Next Time · James Baldwin
  • The Way to Rainy Mountain · N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa)
  • Indian Horse · Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)
  • Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults — Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants · Robin Wall Kimmerer (Citizen Potawatomi), adapted by Monique Gray Smith, ill. Nicole Neidhardt

True Frequency (eighteen to thirty)

  • The Logbook · You · with Good Protocols
  • Let Your Life Speak — Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation · Parker J. Palmer
  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass — Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave · Frederick Douglass
  • Up from Slavery · Booker T. Washington
  • Educated — Educated: A Memoir · Tara Westover
  • The Glass Castle — The Glass Castle: A Memoir · Jeannette Walls
  • I'm Possible — I'm Possible: A Story of Survival, a Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream · Richard Antoine White
  • Monster · Walter Dean Myers
  • Just Mercy — Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption · Bryan Stevenson · English, Spanish
  • Piecing Me Together · Renée Watson
  • Ido in Autismland — Ido in Autismland: Climbing Out of Autism's Silent Prison · Ido Kedar
  • …trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen — Man's Search for Meaning · Viktor E. Frankl · German, English
  • The House on Mango Street · Sandra Cisneros · English, Spanish
  • Briefe an einen jungen Dichter — Letters to a Young Poet · Rainer Maria Rilke · German, English
  • Project Hail Mary · Andy Weir
  • The Dispossessed — The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia · Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Always Coming Home · Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Tehanu — Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea · Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Siddhartha · Hermann Hesse · German, English
  • Kindred · Octavia E. Butler
  • Parable of the Sower · Octavia E. Butler
  • Invisible Man · Ralph Ellison
  • En man som heter Ove — A Man Called Ove · Fredrik Backman · Swedish, English
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures · Shelby Van Pelt
  • The Writing Life · Annie Dillard
  • The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind — The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Readers Edition) · William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
  • Art and Faith — Art and Faith: A Theology of Making · Makoto Fujimura · English, Japanese
  • Brainstorm — Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain · Daniel J. Siegel
  • The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog — The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook · Bruce D. Perry & Maia Szalavitz
  • Peace Is Every Step — Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life · Thich Nhat Hanh · English, Vietnamese
  • No Mud, No Lotus — No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering · Thich Nhat Hanh · English, Vietnamese
  • Phép lạ của sự tỉnh thức — The Miracle of Mindfulness · Thich Nhat Hanh · Vietnamese, English
  • Resonanz — Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World · Hartmut Rosa · German, English
  • Situation und Konstellation — Situation and Constellation: On the Disappearance of Room for Play · Hartmut Rosa
  • Rise Above — Rise Above: Overcome a Victim Mindset, Empower Yourself, and Realize Your Full Potential · Scott Barry Kaufman
  • Beauty and Justice — Beauty and Justice: Creating a Life of Abundance and Courage · Haejin Shim Fujimura & Makoto Fujimura
  • The Language of the Night — The Language of the Night: Essays on Writing, Science Fiction, and Fantasy · Ursula K. Le Guin
  • The Scout Mindset — The Scout Mindset: Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't · Julia Galef
  • Pilgrim at Tinker Creek · Annie Dillard
  • Knowledge and Decisions · Thomas Sowell

The wider school (voices beyond English)

  • 自閉症の僕が跳びはねる理由 — The Reason I Jump · Naoki Higashida · Japanese, English
  • 跳びはねる思考 — Fall Down 7 Times, Get Up 8 · Naoki Higashida · Japanese, English
  • Nobody Nowhere — Nobody Nowhere: The Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic Girl · Donna Williams
  • En riktig människa — A Real Person: Life on the Outside · Gunilla Gerland · Swedish, English
  • Det finns ett annat sätt att vara barn — A Different Childhood · Iris Johansson · Swedish, English
  • ich will kein inmich mehr sein — I Don't Want to Be Inside Me Anymore · Birger Sellin · German, English
  • Je suis à l'Est ! — Je suis à l'Est! (I'm From the East) · Josef Schovanec
  • Buntschatten und Fledermäuse — Buntschatten und Fledermäuse (Colored Shadows and Bats) · Axel Brauns
  • How Can I Talk If My Lips Don't Move? — How Can I Talk If My Lips Don't Move? Inside My Autistic Mind · Tito Rajarshi Mukhopadhyay
  • Fingers in the Sparkle Jar — Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir · Chris Packham
  • We're Not Broken — We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation · Eric Garcia
  • How to ADHD — How to ADHD: An Insider's Guide to Working With Your Brain (Not Against It) · Jessica McCabe
  • All the Weight of Our Dreams — All the Weight of Our Dreams: On Living Racialized Autism · Lydia X. Z. Brown, E. Ashkenazy & Morénike Giwa Onaiwu (eds.)
  • Being Heumann — Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist · Judith Heumann
  • Count Us In — Count Us In: Growing Up With Down Syndrome · Jason Kingsley & Mitchell Levitz
  • Deaf Utopia — Deaf Utopia: A Memoir—and a Love Letter to a Way of Life · Nyle DiMarco with Robert Siebert
  • The Country of the Blind — The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight · Andrew Leland
  • 光とともに… — With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child · Keiko Tobe · Japanese, English
  • 엄마를 부탁해 — Please Look After Mom · Kyung-sook Shin · Korean, English
  • 博士の愛した数式 — The Housekeeper and the Professor · Yoko Ogawa · Japanese, English
  • Une si longue lettre — So Long a Letter · Mariama Bâ · French, English
  • L'Enfant noir — The Dark Child (The African Child) · Camara Laye · French, English
  • Platero y yo — Platero and I · Juan Ramón Jiménez · Spanish, English
  • Scener ur hjärtat — Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis · Malena Ernman, Svante Thunberg, Greta & Beata Thunberg · Swedish, English
  • 82년생 김지영 — Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 · Cho Nam-joo · Korean, English
  • Haboo — Haboo: Native American Stories from Puget Sound · Vi taqʷšəblu Hilbert (Upper Skagit) · Lushootseed, English
  • Ichishkíin Sɨ́nwit — Ichishkíin Sínwit: Yakama / Yakima Sahaptin Dictionary · Virginia Tuxámshish Beavert & Sharon Hargus (Yakama Nation) · Ichishkíin (Sahaptin), English
  • Ttnúwit Átawish Nch'inch'imamí — The Gift of Knowledge / Ttnúwit Átawish Nch'inch'imamí: Reflections on Sahaptin Ways · Virginia R. Beavert (Yakama Nation), ed. Janne L. Underriner · Ichishkíin (Sahaptin), English
  • Coyote Was Going There — Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country · edited by Jarold Ramsey
  • Ojibway Heritage · Basil Johnston (Anishinaabe)