Dad is Fat / Jim Gaffigan / 275 pages

I read Jim Gaffigan's other book, Food: A Love Story a couple of years ago and loved it because I could completely relate to the love a foodie can have for good food. I had already experienced Gaffigan through some of his stand-up comedy, especially his food-related sketches. His jokes concerning Hot Pockets, bacon, and cinnamon rolls are some of the funniest bits of comedy I have ever seen.

So, I was going into this with high hopes, but not really knowing if the humor was going to be a general nature or not. Unfortunately, the humor was only about parenting. As someone who is not a parent, I could not relate as well to the jokes. That said, the humor was still pretty funny and I found myself enjoying the book, but probably not as much as I would if I were a parent.
If you are a parent and need to laugh a bit about raising kids, then I highly recommend this book. If you've never read anything by Jim Gaffigan before, then please check out Food: A Love Story!

Adult Time/Kirkman, Rick/205 pages

     Adult Time is an entertaining collection of baby blues cartoons.  Anyone familiar with the cartoon strip knows that they feature a stay at home mom who is parenting a sweet little girl who hates her little brother and takes every opportunity to torment, snitch on and tease him (the way most siblings do).  The little boy likes anything loud or yucky and doesn't like school, homework or wearing clothes.  There is a toddler girl that doesn't sleep, makes messes and keeps dad from hanging with the guys.  Does all this sound familiar, parents?  Yes--anyone with kids has lived through all of these same situations and its funny when you look back on them and they are happening to someone else!  Enjoy a funny couple of hours reading--great to relax and just enjoy!

                                                                                                                         

Under the Egg / Laura Marx Fitzgerald / 247 pages

   One of my favorite books when I was a kid and still today is From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I am always intrigued when I find a novel that is compared to Files. Fitzgerald has presented a strong young lady to follow in Claudia Kincaid's footsteps.

   Theodora Tenpenny has a lot on her plate. She is responsible for taking care of her mother, the house and the chickens in the backyard. All on $463. Her grandfather died leaving all the responsibilities on her shoulders. Theo doesn't mind but she is getting worried about this treasure she is supposed to find. Before he died, Grandfather said "It's under the egg." On the wall in her grandfather's art studio is a picture of an egg. Not a masterpiece but a family heirloom. What exactly is she supposed to do?

   In the following pages Theo and the reader go on quite an adventure. We learn about Renaissance art, World War II and the Monuments Men, art restoration and authentication and libraries. One of the characters in the book is a rockin' librarian who helps Theo when she is out of ideas. The display of database knowledge was so apropos - I laughed out loud. There is quite a lot packed into this book. So much so I think some readers may give up. Please don't - the adventure is worth the reward! I thoroughly recommend this book to 6th graders and up. Even adults would enjoy the story and all that Theo finds. Could a sequel be in the works??

6 degrees of reading: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

Bringing up Bebe / Pamela Druckerman / 284 pgs.

Pamela Druckermann, an American journalist writes about her time living and raising her children in France.  Druckermann, believes that French children are extremely well-behaved and eat well rounded meals without complaint; so she goes out in search of what makes this so.  The result is the very entertaining and informative book about French values and parenting styles.  Basically, Druckermann feels that Americans are overwhelmed with parenting theories and are too overprotective (ie helicopter parenting) and also to lenient with discipline so as not to crush our child's souls.  There is also a big difference on how the French view their roles as parents versus Americans.  American moms tend to give up their old identity and take on their new role as "mom".  While the French feel that they are parents, but they are still the person they were before the baby and they try to continue to cultivate that persona. 
Druckermann, feels we need to be more like the French and let our children be more independent to discover the world and to handle their own problems.  She also writes about sleeping, mealtimes, the education system, and motherhood. 

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother/Amy Chua/229p

This bestseller details the "Chinese Parenting" model that results in the academic and musical success of so many Asian children. The author, whose parents are Chinese born immigrants, is herself a professor at Yale Law and has two teenage daughters who have achieved considerable success in school and music. It's entertaining and humorous and Ms. Chua is quite candid as she recounts things she's said and done to ensure that her children excel. It's also scary and draconian to "Western" parents: her children never went to sleepovers, were not allowed to try out for a school play, had to have the top score on all their tests and were subjected to shaming and insults if they didn't achieve all the lofty goals set for them. Hard to swallow, yet there's no arguing with the results: Asian-American children typically outscore all other groups on standardized tests and any mother who has had their children in piano and violin lessons can attest to how well they do in that arena. The question: Is that all there is to being a successful human being? At any rate, anyone who has ever worried about hovering and pushing their child too hard can read this and feel better about themselves.