Bestselling author and humorist Dan Alatorre brings us into his living room for funny and delightful stories about the real meaning of fatherhood and parenting. “Savvy” is the nickname of his daughter, and “Savvy Stories” is a fun filled romp through the early years of having a baby. These stories will have you chuckling at the universal message of bringing up baby – and watching her take over the house! Equal parts funny and touching, Savvy Stories shows you why all kids are special. After all, “the beauty of children is in the magic they see everywhere; the beauty of parenthood is seeing it with them.” Not a bumbling TV sitcom stooge, the Dad in this book is a smart, kind, loving man who is constantly amazed at his daughter, something every dad should be (but, sadly, many are not).
My Review
I was given this book by the author for a fair review. This book reminded me how happy I am to have teenagers instead of newborns and toddlers! While Savvy is a sweet baby, it is exhausting reading about the life of a new parent (because it is EXHAUSTING having a new baby).
This book is unique in that it’s written from the father’s point of view and that gives it a touch of sweetness that is missing in some memoirs written by Mom. Filled with little tales about the journey to becoming a father, the book is entertaining and sweet.
For me, I found it – at times – a bit repetitive but that’s mainly because I am not a parent of a young one anymore. If someone had given me this book 18 years ago when my son was a baby, I would have loved it! I don’t buy parenting books anymore (nor do I read them) but when my 3 children were little I read them voraciously. I had every parenting book, memoir and magazine published and I’m sure Alatorre’s book would have also been on the shelf.
The one small critique I had was with respect to timeline. While the first third of the book follows a fairly predictable timeline, as one progresses the author starts to jump around a bit from Savvy at 4 months to Savvy now at 3 years old. I found that a tad distracting (not enough to turn me off the book but just enough to pull me out of the immediacy of the story).
If you are a new parent or you know someone who is expecting this would make a great gift! Why not pick one up as a gift for a new dad?!
