Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures

Starred review from April 1, 2013

Dusick, Parents magazine's 2011 "Funniest Mom Blog" winner, offers a book-length take on the same, exploring the exasperating moments of life with small children (poop, lack of sleep, messes, etc.), accompanied with "crappy" illustrations, which absolutely take the cake. The entries are one to two pages in length each, with minimal text, and the point of view changes between adult and child, making for some ticklish insights. Her characters are neckless and handless stick figures with eye "domes" instead of eyeballs, yet the package is richly developed, and the narrative is minimalist humor at its best (e.g., "He has no concept of being quiet while people are sleeping, so he barges in loudly asking for random shit"). VERDICT There is no shortage of mommy blogs that are turned into books, but Dusick's is terribly funny. It joins the ranks of other raunchy parenting titles, such as Go the F*ck to Sleep (2011) and--my favorite--When Parents Text (2011). Libraries without fat wallets will be hard pressed to justify this, but crappy parents everywhere will love it.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.