Helpful or Interesting Books on Fatherhood?
7 Comments Published by Joel March 2nd, 2007 in Family. Share ThisReader Craig S. writes:
Perhaps you could ask the readers about the best parenting and fatherhood books they’ve found. I have a 6 week old and I’d love to find out some books that have proved helpful and/or interesting to other fathers. Personally I thought “Happiest Baby on the Block” was pretty helpful.
Well, Craig, of course there’s always the go-to Anarchist Cookbook, and you might want to pick up the Webber Baby Q Griddle… Hey, wait a second. Does “fatherhood” not mean frying and eating babies you’ve captured by luring them to your lair with the promise of firecrackers? Perhaps I’m not going to be so useful on this one.
That one by Paul Reiser. The man is a comic genius.
I don’t know if it’s helpful, but Neal Pollack’s latest work, “Alternadad” is timely, dealign exclusively with hipster parenting. The book is getting a lot of press lately, such as the recent article, “Exile On Sesame Street” in the NYT.
In Pollack’s own words from the advance copy release notes,
“My wife Regina and I happened to have a kid during the rise of hipster parenting culture. ALTERNADAD is both a critique and a celebration of that culture, as well as a call for a new style of parenting. It’s also the story of a dopey guy falling in love with a dopey kid, and about grownups not wanting to grow up, or at least trying to balance fun with responsibility. I didn’t initially plan to write about fatherhood, but it turned out to be far more hilarious, and also more dramatic, than I expected. Stumbling into this world of ‘indie kids’, clothing boutiques and record labels, parents who say their kid’s favorite band is Devo, and kids who like to eat dim sum, it’s like I became an anthropologist of my own life, and of my son’s life.”
I think I’m going to send a copy to my brother, a new dad himself.
Armin Brotts books are fantastic.
He has a book that is basically the dad’s version of “What to Expect when You’re Expecting”.
His book on toddlers is one I have constantly gone back to since I’ve had a toddler.
It also has sections on how to deal with marital issues, including how to position yourself for custody if you’re going to be divorced.
“Be Prepared” was and continues to be a great handbook for me. It’s laid out like a Boy Scout manual. The writing is concise and pithy without veering too far into the frat-boy, Maxim-esque schtick that seems to be the knee-jerk voice for a lot of stuff aimed at fathers. There’s a companion site with a preview of the book at beprepared.net.
It’s not a book, but I’ve heard good things about The GoodFather — a CD that teaches baby skills to new dads.
Spend time and bond with your child. You don’t need a book to teach you common sense, do you? If so, a book ain’t gonna help you either. Take the time to enjoy being a father. After the puke down your back a 2 A.M. phase is over, it is fun. At least so far. Mine is only 8, so we’ll see.
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer — the best there is.