Fathering Your School-Age Child

May 15, 2007
Just in time for Father's Day, here are two child-rearing guides tailored to dads. A best-selling author and father of three, Brott (The Expectant Father ) drolly delivers readable, practical guidance on fathering. Covering each year from three to nine, the chapters focus on the developmental states of child, father, and mother/partner as well as their relationships to one other. Considerable knowledge from parenting experts is woven into the text, and special issues (e.g., children with special needs, divorced dads) are also explored. Though there are overlaps in content from the earlier titles in the "Fathering" series (most recentlyFathering Your Toddler, 2005), the presentation remains fresh. Plenty of appeal comes from Brott's ability to pinpoint when to accomplish certain developmental tasks, e.g., the age range of 56 is just the right time to hone toothbrushing and flossing skills.A psychologist and father of four, Pickhardt (The Everything Parent's Guide to the Strong-Willed Child ) stresses that teens "need the supportive, salient, and stabilizing presence of a father to help anchor, structure, and guide" them through life. Like Mark O'Connell inThe Good Father: On Men, Masculinity, and Life in the Family, Pickhardt makes much of the different roles of mothers and fathers while warning that teen daughters often suffer nasty effects from paternal criticism, however well intended. Though provocative and confident, the book carries a scholarly, aloof tone and lacks concrete prescription (for that, try Kevin O'Shea and James Windell'sThe Fatherstyle Advantage ). Pickhardt essentially offers quite a male way of dealing with that teeming mass of hormones known as adolescents; he will find an audience in larger public libraries, and his book is an appropriate on-demand choice for other libraries. Because of Brott's popularity, his latest is highly recommended for all public libraries.Douglas C. Lord, Connecticut State Lib., Hartford

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