Guides that offer tips and tricks for parenting questions are particularly popular among parents and are sold in large quantities. They serve as a medium for conveying educational knowledge from authors to a diverse readership. However, the benefits that these guides provide to their readers have not yet been assessed.

This study explores the questions of who the readership of educational guides in book form is, why they purchase these guides, what benefits they derive from the educational knowledge contained within them, and what influence this knowledge has on their actions in the parenting field. A total of 26 interviews were conducted with mothers and one father who were buyers of guides in bookstores. The participants were identified through a questionnaire distributed in bookstores in the Bern, Biel, and Thun areas. The analysis of the questionnaires and interviews provides answers to the relevant questions. Additionally, the study examines the content of guides from previous centuries, highlighting the relationship between changes in educational circumstances within families and the educational knowledge of guides from earlier times, presented in the form of an overview.