Home > Consumer Reviews > Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads

At first glance, Be Prepared looks like it might be a joke book. The bright yellow handbook format cover shows a child in a backpack strapped onto a smiling, manly fellow in a lumberjack shirt. Front backpack straps replace the man's suspenders, baby bottle, rattles and other toys are at his waist, toolbelt style, and a pacifier dangles from a strap in his fingers. It captures attention.

Likewise, the inside of the book captures attention with well designed layout and graphics. Readers recognize the content, presented with abundant wit and style, is playful but not a joke. This is a creative, purposeful production with solid, helpful information delivered in fun, maybe over-the-top, masculine terms, but quite real.

With useful, pithy information in easily assimilated chunks, and a fun filled, `can-do/here's how', unsentimental attitude, this nuts-and- bolts manual attracts expectant and new dads the way their beloved Worst-Case Scenario books used to, but with more usable material that really will help prepare them for parenting, appreciate their baby, and boost their confidence. Dads who know how to care for their infants are more likely to participate in care and strengthen parent-child attachment from the start. This interesting book imparts the preparatory knowledge well indeed.

It is organized in five general sections by age, from newborn to one year, with basic information about normal development and needs, and appropriate fatherly responsibilities and skills. Mindful, entertaining, diagrammed instructions for hundreds of such necessities as diapering, stimulating, soothing, bathing, swaddling, burping, reading Sports Illustrated with the baby, and recognizing types of crying, are laid out with humor and a decidedly masculine slant:

" Place one of your large outdoor trash cans under the window of the baby's room . (If you live in the city, you can hang a bag from the rail of your fire escape.) Each time you get a dirty diaper, simply open the window and throw down a long range jumper; Once a day, you can go out and collect the air balls, but don't be surprised how fast you'll get the rhythm down. . . "

" . . Studies have shown that the most effective rocking mimics the mother's walking pattern, which is approximately sixty rocks a minute. . . try reggae music. The beat is solid and steady, and it's got a natural buoyancy that will complement your rocking. And best of all, most reggae music cycles at around sixty to seventy beats per minute, tailor-made to your baby's needs. (Bob Marley's Buffalo Soldier is almost a perfect sixty b.p.m.."

WIthout being simplistic, this creative book actually will help dads get their parenting rhythm down, and will appeal to many men who otherwise would not read a book for new fathers. It's a good start.

Authors Greenberg, a comedian, and Hayden,an illustrator/graphic designer, are parents of a daughter.

We just had our first baby last week. I picked this book up a couple of days ago and have been reading in short burst (as the book was designed for) with a book in one hand and a sleeping baby in the other.

The content is fun; engaging to read for both parents. It also does a great job of zoning in on the "important" stuff that new dads want to know, rather than hundreds of pages that are great info, but simply would never get read by most new parents during their haze of sleep deprevation.

5 well deserved stars.

All the other reviews have pretty much covered it -- this book is hilarious, kitschy, easy to read, and so incredibly practical. My husband loves it, and it's great for moms, too. This book just gets right down to the meat of the matter -- how to care for a baby, how to solve problems, how to be a supportive partner.

This book isn't meant to be the be-all, end-all of new parent books, but if you're a new dad and are a bit overwhelmed by a) fatherhood and b) all the BOOKS about parenting, this is a great book to get. It's got great retro artwork, a loose style, a sense of humor (something you don't see much in parenting books), and (mostly) very sound advice and information, from what your brand new baby will REALLY look like to how to keep your almost-one-year-old entertained on an airplane....

My kid just turned a year old and I implemented many of the bits of advice I found in this book. It was well supplemented by "The New Father" and by "What's Going on in There?", making a trio of books that runs the gamut from theory to practice, from micro to macro. This book ended up as a well-thumbed bathroom reader after I finished it.

By the way, the website for this book has some activities: listen to the sound of a baby crying for several minutes (to help you acclimate if, perhaps, you're still "expecting"), dad exercises and more.

I love this book! It's hilarious, and at the same time, unbelievably helpful. It captures a new dad's state of mind perfectly.

There are illustrations everywhere, on how to do everything, like swaddling, burping, and babyproofing, and all these inventive ways to soothe a screaming baby, and how to keep yourself awake at work.

I read a couple of other books for new dads, and my eyes started to glaze over. But this book was so much fun that I couldn't put it down.

An added bonus: some pages in the book point you to a companion website where you can download audio files and video files and other helpful documents.

Highly recommended!