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Dad Can You Not?: A Dad's Guide to Being Less Cringey
A hilarious tribute to every dad from Chip Leighton, internet sensation and author of New York Times bestseller What Time is Noon.
Dad fails are the stuff of The time he pulled up to a drive–through and shouted his order into a trash can, or when he ate a handful of what he thought were nuts but were really discarded olive pits, or that day he used a glue stick instead of ChapStick.
In Dad Can You Not?, Leighton brings some real doozies to dads discovering everything from how therapy works (who knew it involved talking about “all the personal stuff”?) to what washes up on the beach at low tide (surprise—the translucent lumps are jellyfish, not lost breast implants), and he includes lots of funny feedback and reactions from the kids (“you need to chill in the family group chat”) plus quizzes to test where everyone falls on the “Dadness” scale, along with lots of tongue–in–cheek charts, graphs, and other features. With the same charm that made What Time is Noon a New York Times bestseller, Dad Can You Not? delivers laugh–out–loud fun for the whole family.
Dad fails are the stuff of The time he pulled up to a drive–through and shouted his order into a trash can, or when he ate a handful of what he thought were nuts but were really discarded olive pits, or that day he used a glue stick instead of ChapStick.
In Dad Can You Not?, Leighton brings some real doozies to dads discovering everything from how therapy works (who knew it involved talking about “all the personal stuff”?) to what washes up on the beach at low tide (surprise—the translucent lumps are jellyfish, not lost breast implants), and he includes lots of funny feedback and reactions from the kids (“you need to chill in the family group chat”) plus quizzes to test where everyone falls on the “Dadness” scale, along with lots of tongue–in–cheek charts, graphs, and other features. With the same charm that made What Time is Noon a New York Times bestseller, Dad Can You Not? delivers laugh–out–loud fun for the whole family.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published April 21, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
👨👦Won in a giveaway 🗣
I would say 3- 3&1/2 stars. This is a pleasant read. There were some parts where I was thinking for a while, "This is cute, but not that funny." Then it started picking up and I got to some parts that made me audibly chuckle. It's under 200 pages and a quick read. I miss my dad a lot. I think he would have enjoyed this book and so did I. Thank you to the author, Chip Leighton, Countryman Press and Goodreads for my free copy. Happy reading! 👨🧑🦳🧑🏼🦰
I would say 3- 3&1/2 stars. This is a pleasant read. There were some parts where I was thinking for a while, "This is cute, but not that funny." Then it started picking up and I got to some parts that made me audibly chuckle. It's under 200 pages and a quick read. I miss my dad a lot. I think he would have enjoyed this book and so did I. Thank you to the author, Chip Leighton, Countryman Press and Goodreads for my free copy. Happy reading! 👨🧑🦳🧑🏼🦰
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Cute book. I liked the dad-related humor. I found it to be pretty well-intentioned. Some moments were genuinely laugh out loud funny, like the “Foods Dad Ate Because HE Thought they Were Soup.: (this section as also disgusting). I am a (younger) mom and honestly I valued some of the
That being said, some of these moments that were likely well-intentioned jokes at dad’s expense were, in fact, not really cute moments that normalize traditional and problematic gender ideas. For example – the idea that dads don’t know names of teachers, kid friends, etc. I get the intention but in reality, it normalizes the idea of “dad jobs” vs. “mom jobs” which reinforces problematic division of labor. And no, sorry, this list is not just a harmless joke – this is the stuff that perpetuates traditional gender roles and male’s learned helplessness/weaponizdd incompetence. This is a theme throughout the book in its less self aware moments. (As is this very heteronormative book that, as far as I can tell, doesn’t give a disclaimer about its heteronormativity, which would make the book seem a bit more self-aware and enjoyable to me.)
Thank you Netgalley for this advanced reader copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
That being said, some of these moments that were likely well-intentioned jokes at dad’s expense were, in fact, not really cute moments that normalize traditional and problematic gender ideas. For example – the idea that dads don’t know names of teachers, kid friends, etc. I get the intention but in reality, it normalizes the idea of “dad jobs” vs. “mom jobs” which reinforces problematic division of labor. And no, sorry, this list is not just a harmless joke – this is the stuff that perpetuates traditional gender roles and male’s learned helplessness/weaponizdd incompetence. This is a theme throughout the book in its less self aware moments. (As is this very heteronormative book that, as far as I can tell, doesn’t give a disclaimer about its heteronormativity, which would make the book seem a bit more self-aware and enjoyable to me.)
Thank you Netgalley for this advanced reader copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
May 13, 2026
This is a very entertaining read, but I found myself shocked at the mental deficiency of some of the dads described. I really don’t understand how they managed to reproduce. I’m guessing either their wives/girlfriends are every bit as stupid as they, or a large amount of alcohol was involved. The underlying message here is darker: in this author’s eyes, fathers are out-of-touch morons who have trouble seeing past their own noses, while teens are presumptuous, self-entitled know-it-alls who have nothing but contempt for their parents; only enduring their company because they must for upkeep. As funny as this book is, it holds a rather bleak outlook for the future of intergenerational understanding and mutual respect. It perpetuates and normalizes harmful stereotypes which threaten to tear society apart at the seams. I can only give three stars because of the bad aftertaste, even after the laugh value.
May 25, 2026
Funny as expected
I loved this. I follow this dad on Instagram and those teen texts kill me every time. They were, IMO, the funniest parts of the book. And the notes from his kids--loved those too.
I read a couple reviews about the book being very "traditional" in that dads are perceived as inept, bungling, and kind of in their own worlds, disconnected from their kids so mom does all the kid stuff. I can see that here, so I don't disagree, but I don't think that distracts from the humor, AND I know IRL that isn't true (generally), at least with my husband and our girl and probs for the majority of dads out there (I hope).
Bottom line: you will get a lotta laughs from this book so just buy it 😎
I loved this. I follow this dad on Instagram and those teen texts kill me every time. They were, IMO, the funniest parts of the book. And the notes from his kids--loved those too.
I read a couple reviews about the book being very "traditional" in that dads are perceived as inept, bungling, and kind of in their own worlds, disconnected from their kids so mom does all the kid stuff. I can see that here, so I don't disagree, but I don't think that distracts from the humor, AND I know IRL that isn't true (generally), at least with my husband and our girl and probs for the majority of dads out there (I hope).
Bottom line: you will get a lotta laughs from this book so just buy it 😎
April 24, 2026
funny! Dad Can You Not is a hilarious book full of examples of real-life funny and cringey stories of things dads have done. I always especially enjoy seeing parents described through the lens of a teenage brain.
This audiobook was read by the author, which was fun. I really liked the addition of inserting comments along the way from his own kids! This is a quick, funny read!
Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
This audiobook was read by the author, which was fun. I really liked the addition of inserting comments along the way from his own kids! This is a quick, funny read!
Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
May 1, 2026
I enjoyed this book. It was a little bit silly but entertaining over all.
The funny thing is, many of these anecdotes reminded me of my mum which was hilarious because I've always noticed when people talk about silly dad and clever mum combo that their parents are, mine were always the other way round.
Infact, my mum has done lots of these things and my father none.
The funny thing is, many of these anecdotes reminded me of my mum which was hilarious because I've always noticed when people talk about silly dad and clever mum combo that their parents are, mine were always the other way round.
Infact, my mum has done lots of these things and my father none.
April 29, 2026
Available on hoopla, this is a fun listen about the cringey things dads say and the eye-rolling ignorant things that kids ask. A light hearted chuckle, I enjoyed listening to this book as much as I enjoyed his first. A quick, fun read that will serve as a fast Bridget’s u til your next book.
April 22, 2026
I didn't realize I was not going to be the target audience for this book. This book is definitely for dads.
May 2, 2026
Quick, fun read. A few of the items hit a little too close to home! 😊
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews