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Book Review

An Open Call to Authors, Publishers & Purveyors of Fine Products

July 19, 2013 By Keagan Pearson Leave a Comment

Book ReviewsAre you an author, filmmaker, publisher or product manufacturer that’s looking for an honest review?

Building awareness for anything can be a challenging proposition. Whether you’re looking for a book review or an assessment of a service, one of the best ways to build buzz is through a grassroots review site and blog.

These kinds of services have been part of our DNA for years. Both secular and Christian publishers, artists, authors…you name it – have used FatherhoodFactor.com to get the word out to their perspective audience.

Because we provide professional services, we guarantee a professional result.

Now, you’re probably wondering if you can trust the reviews of this site. Quite simply stated, the answer is “YES“! Although we’ve done paid reviews in the past, we’ve actually come down on the side of wanting to remove any sense of bias. So, the only form of compensation that we entertain are free access to the products, books, services or films that we’re requested to review. In addition, we may try to get a freebie that we can offer to our readers through a giveaway.

If we decide to endorse the focus of our review then you can be sure that it’s something we’ve vetted and tested. In essence, you won’t see our stamp of approval unless we find it to be useful.

The only stipulation that we have is that the focus of your review should be easily relatable to the theme of FatherhoodFactor.com. While this may seem a bit limiting, it’s actually quite easy to inject the application of fatherhood and parenting in to just about anything. However, we do want to stay true to who we are.

Creative work and products that deserve attention will always find a home with us. Just get in touch with us today to find out how we can be of service!

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A Readers Review: “A Boy’s Guide to Girls” by Campbell & Hawkins

March 5, 2012 By Keagan Pearson Leave a Comment

I think dads would be better off if everything came with a guidebook.

I don’t mean a set of verbal instructions to follow…but more like the playbook your high-school football coach carried everywhere.

A nice multi-colored, tabbed binder that would accommodate quick access to the situation of the day. Something with a lot of illustrations and diagrams.

Life would be so much easier if this were the case.

Think about it, the next time your son came to you with a marble stuck up his nose you could immediately turn to the section labeled “Quick Marble Extraction Methods to Clear Airways.”

Come to think of it…that may be a creative work for me to tackle in the near future.

In the meantime however, there are a few tools that may assist you in your quest.

A Boy’s Guide to Girls

There are very few things in the life of a man that are more daunting than understanding women. And although you’ve grown more capable as you’ve gotten older, they are still perplexing.

Now think of it from a young boy’s perspective. You take away the years that have developed maturity and emotional control, and you are left with a pretty horrifying dilemma.

Couple this with hormonal changes, and as a dad, you might begin to consider investing in restraints.

However, I can assure you that there are better ways to approach this.

For instance, you could consider reading the latest book from Campbell and Hawkins titled “A Boy’s Guide to Girls.”

No, it is not a book of pictures and diagrams, but it is written with the intent of guiding young men through the turbulent “boy meets girl” phase of life.

First let me preface my recommendation with a little intentional parenting sidebar. I would suggest, as a reasonable father, reading this book yourself before handing it off to your son.

That may seem like a no-brainer but it will help to have a grasp on what is being suggested in the text so that you know how to coach your son along the way. Plus, if you haven’t already set an age for dating, this may help you begin to decipher whether or not your son is even ready for a deeper relationship.

Topics for Teaching

Keep in mind that this book is intended for a core audience that begins around age 12…so don’t be overly critical with your stylistic expectations.

But, I would also warn against dismissing this book as completely adolescent. There are some great little reminders in this book that husbands will benefit from as well.

As a dad or as a boy, you can expect to cover topics like:

  • Are You Ready? – This section is actually a pretty thoughtful set of situational questions, which attempt to help a young man determine whether or not he is even really interested in girls yet. There is no reason for a boy to follow the crowd if their cares center more on tackle football in the back yard.
  • Getting to Know a Girl – Show genuine interest in them. This means that you actually care about their likes and dislikes, their dreams, their hobbies. Plus, this is a valid pursuit for us married guys as well.
  • Talking to Your Parents – Boy’s are coached on how to approach their parents when faced with things like dating and parties. Again, there are some really good tips here. The book urges honesty and respect and a willingness to see things from the parent’s perspective. Likewise, we dads could use these reminders when we are on the receiving end of a request like this.
  • Girls and Social Media – This is probably a conversation that you will have with your kids prior to dating age, but it lists some valid do’s and don’ts for a boy in the digital age. Specifically, it coaches boys to be careful about what they share online and how to conduct themselves respectfully.
  • Dating Activity “Do’s and Don’ts” – Going for a walk in a scenic place or getting a bite to eat…good. Making her play rugby with you and your buddies…not good. The authors also make a valid point here…it’s less about the activity and more about the time spent together. Once again dads, you should put this away in your memory bank as well.

Some Takeaways

Besides the five pointers that I listed above, the book offers 25 more that vary in scope and purpose. Some are light-hearted and some are heavy and meaningful.

Personally, I took four important lessons away from this book that lead me to my recommendation.

  1. It really encourages boys to work on focusing on someone other than themselves. Yes there are areas of inward focus, but the book does a great job of pointing out that it’s not always about them.
  2. The book actually teaches things that will help you parent your boy(s). It encourages respect, honesty and open communication. All traits that dads would long for their sons to know better.
  3. There is an abundance of practical tips and advice. It’s not just a theoretical parsing of words.
  4. It is easily adaptable. If your parenting style would lead you to change certain things, then you can talk through the reason for your disagreement.

As fathers you certainly remember how treacherous your adolescence was at times. From my humble perspective, this book will help you navigate it with a little less heartburn.

Have you raised boys…or are you currently raising them?

Do you have advice that you would like to add?

We would be thrilled for you to dialog with us in the comments section below.

More on the Books Publisher

For more information on this publisher and to view their other published works, check out their website at Boy’s and Girl’s Guide Books, and their blog at Growing Up Smart. You can also connect with them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for additional information and to be kept up to date on future projects that they plan to release.

A Readers Review: “Bad Dad” by Dave Lieber

January 2, 2012 By Keagan Pearson Leave a Comment

What if your parenting…I mean all of your parenting…was consistently on display for all to see?

This means that everyone would get to see the “full you”…not just the you that’s all smiles and endless patients.

If you’re like me, there are moments when your “fathering” would more likely solicit furrowed brows of disappointment than cheers of approval.

Needless to say, we don’t always make the best decisions.

Although we may want to be super-hero parents, we’re mere fallible mortals that are prone to missteps…and often those missteps arise at the most inopportune times.

Take Dave Lieber for instance.

As the Watchdog columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dave is a guy that has made his bones uncovering injustices and giving a voice to those that normally wouldn’t have a platform to be heard.

It turns out that his profession has also earned him some detractors as well.

And that’s where the story gets really interesting.

A Bad Dad is Born

After recounting the circumstances that formed his M.O. in the small Texas town in which he lived, Dave’s new book…aptly named “Bad Dad“…builds the scene.

As he and his son sit in a McDonald’s restaurant eating some breakfast, his son, having inhaled his food, demands that Dave hurry up and finish so that they can leave.

Still being under the spell of a newspaper and a tasty cup of coffee, Dave tells his son that he wants to finish his coffee and then they can go.

Well, for Dave’s son the idea of waiting patiently proved too much for his 11-year old schedule. There were friends waiting to play, and that needed more attention than coffee.

After a few more demands, Dave decided to leave and let his son walk the few short blocks back to their home. Something that most of us would have probably considered under that same circumstance.

Unfortunately, by the time Dave cooled off and returned to get his boy, the cops had been called and a crowd had formed.

Finally, the guy that had rubbed so many officials the wrong way was now at the mercy of those same people.

The Ensuing Storm

Let’s just say that things got pretty crazy for Dave and his family after the incident.

This watchdog reporter all of a sudden got national attention, but not for his stellar reporting.

Instead, the news outlets and the correspondence sent to his paper were debating his ability as a father.

I probably shouldn’t have been shocked that there was such a big deal made out of such a small incident. Leave it up to our media to blow things out of proportion.

However, just like the media coverage, this book demands that you think through the actions that you might have taken in a similar situation.

Although I probably wouldn’t have left my child, Dave expertly gets you to consider the “questionable” things that you’ve done as a parent.

Unfortunately, Dave did something questionable in a town that was more than willing to exploit his indiscretion.

It makes me appreciate my relatively quiet existence.

A Style that Engages

Beyond the fact that the story itself is an engaging read, Dave’s journalistic style is fluid and biting.

As he bounces back and forth from the incident with his son to the stories that gained him notoriety, you get a very real sense of his tenacity and passion for writing.

You also get to see Dave come full circle as he finds himself as the story line instead of the storyteller.

You get to see Dave the “dad”, who genuinely seems to be a good father…despite the fact that so many try to label him otherwise.

Honestly, I saw myself in his story…minus the media attention.

Dave also used this book to reveal a very sad truth. If you want to punish your kids for their behavior, do it when nobody else is watching.

It is the world we live in, but Dave writes about it in a way that causes you to beware of it and embrace it all at once.

It’s a book that every dad should read…for the good, the bad, and the horribly intrusive.

More About the Book’s Author

For more from Dave Lieber, you can visit the book’s official site, Dave’s personal website, follow him on Twitter at @DaveLieber, or visit the book’s Facebook fan page.

A Good Book of Bad Habits

November 25, 2011 By Keagan Pearson Leave a Comment

Every once in a while you run across a book that surprises you.

I am certainly not a book snob, but I have a tendency to stick to a particular style of book. One that causes you to ponder deep thoughts…and maybe one that changes you a bit in the process.

That’s why my initial thoughts of reviewing Hawkins and Laube’s “The Book of Bad Habits” were lukewarm.

Thankfully, the process of writing causes me to be open to things that I wouldn’t have been otherwise.

It Runs the Gamut

I have read few…scratch that…I have read zero books that cover topics from peeing in the shower to taking drugs.

Being that the book is meant to guide young (and not so young) men and women through the perils of misplaced (or misapplied) tendencies, it stands to reason that it would cover everything from the vile to the sophisticated.

More importantly to me, it does so with a laugh and some attention to the gross reality of our quirks and eccentricities.

And with that, the funny anecdotes are delivered alongside some strong factual expertise by Dr. Laube…who happens to be an M.D.

I mean, as a dad, I find it very useful to know that when my 4 year-old passes gas that’s loud and obnoxious, I don’t have to dawn the gas mask and retardant spray.

And who doesn’t want to fully understand that the:

“German Sociologist Norbert Elias, in his two-volume “The Civilizing Process“, records prohibitions against spitting from the Middle Ages to 1910?”

Take-Away’s to Teach Your Kids

So what did I glean from this read?

  1. We all have a little adolescent in us. We may grow older but that doesn’t exclude us from doing some of the same things we tell our kids not to do.
  2. That there’s a need for the heavy and the lighthearted. We can, and should, teach our kids about the dangers of drug use, while at the same time teaching them the need to avoid “Slobdom”.
  3. That common sense is still king. When in doubt, teach your kids to use that squishy grey thing in between their ears.
  4. That even in today’s world, courtesy still matters to people. Even with the mellowing of old-fashioned values, most people still find value in our polite efforts. Personally, my girls will know that it means something when a man opens a door for them.
  5. That you can’t temp physics. When you place a 4,000 lbs. car in a collision with a person…the car always wins. So, let’s watch where we’re walking shall we!

What Now?

First things first…buy the book. It is a quick read that will make you laugh and equip you with some nuggets that will teach you and your kids.

Next, subscribe to the blog. There are some great insights within many topics…and it’s well worth freeing up some email space.

If you’re on Facebook then why not give them a like? It’s worth the two seconds and you’ll find some topics that may spark your interest.

And, for those using Twitter, follow them. My guess is that you’ll get a chuckle in the process.

Finally, happy reading…and good luck with those bad habits!

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