The O'Reilly Factor for Kids: A Survival Guide for America's Families – An Ethics Code with Candid Wisdom for Youth and Parents

by Bill O'Reilly, Charles Flowers

The bestselling author of The O'Reilly Factor , The No Spin Zone , and Who's Looking Out for You? talks straight to kids this time. He is as demanding, direct, and wry asever—but he's also more revealing too, sharing candid snapshots of his own childhood throughout. Bill O'Reilly, a former schoolteacher, now an award-winning broadcast news journalist, husband, and father of two, joins forces with an experienced educator to bring you, America's youth, a code of ethics by which to live.In this latest book, Bill takes to task bullies, cheaters, advertisers who target you irresponsibly, and parents who fight for their children to win undeserved honors instead of earning them on their own merit. He lays bare the unvarnished truths about sex, money, smoking, drugs, alcohol, and friends. What he has to say about these issues may very well surprise you. He offers coping devices for those enduring a divorce, struggling with teacher, parent, or sibling relationships, and planning their futures. He also shares wisdom on such subjects as death, politics, and God. Whether you take the tests he's provided, take the advice he doles out, or just take a cue from the personal stories he shares, you're bound to make smarter choices in your life, and that's all Bill asks for.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Self Help, Parenting, Reference, Childrens, Comedy

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2004

About the author

Bill O'Reilly's success in broadcasting and publishing is unmatched. The iconic anchor of The O'Reilly Factor led the program to the status of the highest rated cable news broadcast in the nation for sixteen consecutive years. His website BillOReilly.com is followed by millions all over the world.

In addition, he has authored an astonishing 12 number one ranked non-fiction books including the historical "Killing" series. Mr. O'Reilly currently has 17 million books in print.

Bill O'Reilly has been a broadcaster for 42 years. He has been awarded three Emmys and a number of other journalism accolades. He was a national correspondent for CBS News and ABC News as well as a reporter-anchor for WCBS-TV in New York City, among other high-profile jobs.

Mr. O'Reilly received two other Emmy nominations for the movies "Killing Kennedy" and "Killing Jesus."

He holds a history degree from Marist College, a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University, and another master’s degree from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Bill O'Reilly lives on Long Island where he was raised. His philanthropic enterprises have raised tens of millions for people in need and wounded American veterans.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/billor...

Reviews

[Max Hartman]

I learned a lot. I learned to think for myself, especially if O'Reilly approves of my thoughts. I learned that there are 2 kinds of kids: good kids, and gay kids.

P.S.

I learned all of this and I only read the front and back cover.

[Rami · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only thing I will probably ever agree with this guy on is his encouragement of teen reading. I hope they read books other than his though.

[Dave]

Oh, I haven't read this, I just wanted to see if I could give zero stars to a book targeting children that was written by a creepy old man. Apparently I can. Wheee!

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

alternate title: Mein Kampf for Kids!

[Ashley Plushnik · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought the whole book was BS, my parents made me read it. I learned a lot about what I disagree with...

[Stephen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was this the one that came out the same month as his sex scandal with a female employee?

God, save your money and go find the transcripts of his sexy talk online for free -- at least those are worth a laugh! Warning: If you do read the transcript you might not be able to make hand party (as Borat would say) for a few weeks just thinking about this doughy dude talking about getting it on with the ladies.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book, but it was a let down compared to the first book I read.

[Cassi Ayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, in short, has saved my life. I got this book when I needed it most. It concisely explains how to deal with boneheads in the world, and how to go about life in an orderly way, while maintaining your individuality. This book taught me how to deal with my little brother, my bonehead teachers, and most of the other screwed-up adults in my world. This book I definitely recommend to anyone who needs a concise, defined guide on how to improve your way of thinking. This book is more than just amazing, it's absolutely fanatical. I would recommend this to most of my friends. I think it would help a lot of them and this is more than amazing.

--CAA Photography

[Justin]

Finally! Indoctrination for kids. Get em while they're young Bill!

[Aj · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book so far. It has a lot of great advice and has great information. I would suggest this book to every kid I know. I think that it can be a helpful tool.

[Joseph Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to the audio cds. Mildly interesting, and not as bad as I thought it would be. He has a mostly reasonable opinion; about 85% of things he says everyone agrees with, but he does tend to sneak in the odd thing as if it were common knowledge. Warning. Excessive use of retarded acronyms.

With the popularity of O'Reilly bashing at all time highs, I admittely prejudged him too harshly. On the whole he seems to be the stereotypical conservative father figure. He comes off as not just your typical right wing nut, but an intelligent conservative that is honestly trying to make the system better. Uncharacteristic of many other conservative pundits, he actually dedicates a chapter to attacking racism and stereotyping, and even a brief defense of hard-working gays as good parents. (Hard-working ones only!)

O"Reilly creates quite a comprehensive list of life steps and goals, accompanied by several memorable and humourous stories. I do think that most teenage kids would benefit if they read this book, and actively attempted to follow through with most of the things he recommends.

If you can get past the media image of O'Reilly, actually read/listen to this book actively, following through with it, you can take quite a bit out of this book.

[Erica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not written for kids, this is some sort of masturbation piece. He spends most of it talking about how amazingly amazing he is, and the rest giving overly broad, inane advice.

That said, the advice isn't bad, just tepid. And occasionally moronic. I don't know why he thought being a talk show host made him a credible source of general life advice.
Here are some of the lines I laughed so hard at I had to write them down.


“What does an adult know? Well, I have a career that’s lots of fun and makes me a lot of money.”

“Even though I’m now famous and successful, I still keep my old friends.”

"Okay, you know I’ve made money. It was a long time coming, so I don’t usually spend much of it and I certainly don’t show it off."

"You know what I always say: Don’t do things that prevent success."

"That includes the dancing called “freaking.”"

[Coral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading before giving to Wesley as a gift. This book is written for teenagers and pre-teens. It is NOT political nor slanted other than toward good citizenship and honesty in all things. Well worth the read even for adults.

[August Grimm · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is the cheat code to getting beat up by the entire playground.

My abusive father made me read this book when I was 11. I didn’t internalize a single thing about it. Years later, when I would escape his house, I made sure to take this book so I could have the pleasure of destroying it.

[Caindawg · Rating 5 out of 5]

O'Reilly tells is straight! No Spin Zoooone!

[Tag · Rating 2 out of 5]

NOT A BOOK FOR KIDS!!!! Overall, the book has some great topics. Beware of the sex chapter! Secular view on abstinence.
I like Bill O'Reilly, and much of his stuff is good. This one though came with some disappointments and few topics I didn't want my children to hear from anyone one else but me. For the kids/teens out there whose parents aren't involved in their lives....this book would be beneficial for them. The wording on the front cover is deceiving. Its NOT for kids, and it isn't for my family.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is very good.. i've read it three or four times at least!

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all middle school age children. Filled with humorous anecdotes and plain truth common sense, something that "government" schools do not incorporate in their academic schemes.

[Krystal Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

relaly good book that I will pass on to the kids when they get a little bit older

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this for a while, since I am a fan of Bill O'reilly. Now, I know that many of you hate this man and his political opinions, so you automatically dismiss the idea of reading this book, or just give it 1 star without reading it.

First of all, he's not shoving opinions at you. In fact, he encourages kids to form their own. He tells of his life experiences and how he dealt with problems teens often face; drugs, bullying, self-esteem, etc. It's very informative. Although does mention his thoughts on a few subjects, it's just advice on getting through life. Very little on politics. Which is important in a book that is directed towards teens who are easily influenced.

I wish all teens would read this. I wish I would of read this earlier.

NOTE: I'm not sure why all of these people are giving it one star and saying that Bill "has some messed up ideas." Would someone care to explain what ideas were so "messed up" in it?

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this book because like the other book of his I read, it is an easy read and I could really hear his voice in the book. The topics in the book are definately things parents should speak to their children about, but I plan on talking to my children about these things instead of having O'Reilly be their source of information. But for children who do not have involved parents, this could be a good book for them.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill O/Reilly did a pretty good job in writing this book. I enjoyed reading it. I don't know how easy it will be to get each of my children to read a book about growing up. My plan is to present one book for them to read and I will choose the Sean Covey one entitled "The 6 Most Important Decisions." These two books talk about many of the same things, I just like the Covey one because it is Gospel Centered.

[Lampley Miguet · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was a young and impressionable eighth grader, a friend of the family bought this book and gave it to me.

At the time, I never started a book without finishing it — so, against my best interest, I read the whole thing.

Thirteen years later, I’m about as far removed from this guy’s ideology as the MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1 is from Earth.

Which is to say that this book didn’t do it for me.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was being given away for free by a used book store. I remember when it came out years back-at the same time that whole Andrea Mackris thing was going on if I remember correctly. Whatever, I was a teenager.

Sadly, leafing through it before passing it on as a gag gift provided no confused correlations between loofahs and falafels, nor how to use them in the shower.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some good advice but it wasn't that great.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to teens, young adults as well as regular adults. Straight talking and entertaining as well.

[Nathan ingraham]

I've read this book about 5 times Just talks about peer pressuer mianly its a good book and I own it.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was by far one of the dumbest books I have ever read. If there was any doubt in my mind as to how stupid O'Reilly is, it's gone now.

[Emily Rader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I forgot I read this when I was a kid and ew! There should be a rating lower than one

[Yana Capri · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my grandmother 20 years ago for my 12th or 13th birthday. Never read it till now because she recently passed and I decided to revisit the idea of reading this book before I either throw it out or dump it at the free Little Library exchange across the street. I really never liked my grandmother that much and I certainly never liked O’Reilly and I definitely didn’t like him after that stuff that came out about him at Fox News (he got fired for it too, so look that scandal up if you want)! However, I decided to go into reading this book by trying to have an open mind. This book is very outdated..I wouldn’t say it’s “bad” because for the time it was written it would have been good and appropriate, but since it’s like 20 years later (and O’Reilly was subject of a bad scandal), it doesn’t make any sense now. Notice there was also a co-author too, so I don’t really know how much of this was actually written by O’Reilly himself, and doubt most of it was him. But I gave it 1 star for the fact that O’Reilly doesn’t seem to be a good person after his public scandals, so why should he be an authority on advising impressionable children? And 2nd this book is so ridiculously outdated, it would not make sense for children today or in the future.