Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

A Dad-Sized Challenge

Rate this book
This book will inspires dads to have an amazing relationship with their sons!

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2009

14 people want to read

About the author

Jeff Kinley

32 books70 followers
Jeff Kinley is a bestselling author who has written 32 books. Jeff is passionate and intentional about equipping Christians to know God and His Word. His books have been translated into multiple languages and sold throughout the world. Jeff's speaking ministry takes him to far away countries where he speaks on the topics related to his books, most notably Bible Prophecy. His Vintage Truth Podcast can be heard twice a week, and has listeners in over 70 countries.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
1 (6%)
4 stars
3 (18%)
3 stars
2 (12%)
2 stars
2 (12%)
1 star
8 (50%)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
63 reviews420 followers
June 19, 2009
For more than five years, Mitch Albom's book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, has had the distinction of being the worst book I've ever read. Today Mr. Albom has been dethroned by Jeff Kinley, a man who appears to have stopped maturing when he was 15.

I think I'll let the book speak for itself...

On his boys being forced to play sports with girls: They allowed -- no, make that required and recruited -- girls to be on the boys baseball team. I'm not a chauvinist, but c'mon. There should be times and places where a guy can hang with guys and girls can be with girls. And for me, the boys' baseball team was one of those places. Funny, but guys aren't allowed to play on the girls' softball teams. Hmm.

Comparing fatherhood to a difficult journey: There's construction on life's highways and you're forced to reroute or divert, and that slows you down. Sometimes as a father you get stuck in a parental traffic jam, or have a flat tire. You may even have "relationship wrecks" along the way. Or you may find yourself "rubbernecking" as you slowly pass by a three-car pileup involving another dad and his son... Then again, maybe you've already has some near misses or some fender benders of your own.

On girls: And today I still hold to my belief that girls are weird. I have to. I'm a guy. I have to uphold the ideals of my gender... I soon discovered that in addition to being weird, girls could also be...shall we say...hot. Very hot. No--make that smoking hot.

Why girls are the better gender to be attracted to if you are a boy: It didn't take me long to figure out that in spite of their obvious conflicting differences, guys and girls went together very well, like in a natural way. I mean, my buddy Bruce was fun to play guitar with, and Ricky and I played a lot of baseball together. But I never wanted to kiss them!

On dealing with boys' aggression: He'll need an outlet for this emotion and energy through physical activities like sports, during which he can blow off some steam in healthy ways. That's why football is so good for boys. Again, where else in life do you get to knock the snot out of some poor guy, and hundreds or people stand to their feet in applause?

On lust (Between men? I'll let you decide.): Lust is every man's struggle. We all face this temptation regularly. No one is exempt. No one is immune. It is a common guy thing. And that's why we so desperately need one another.

And, finally, some thoughts on your penis: You see, the thing to keep in mind is that your penis has no idea if you're married or not."

Profile Image for Holly.
55 reviews1 follower
June 17, 2009
I feel like I should give this book a good review because I won it, but I just can't do it! Like the other reviews I am glad I got this book for free. I signed up for it hoping that my husband would be able to read it and learn how to build a good relationship with our son, but last night I told my husband to not even bother with this book! I actually couldnt even get through the whole thing. I dont think the author is trying to be offensive, but he is. I dont like reading that women cry at the drop of a hat like when their shoes match their outfit! That is just insulting! And that we are not logical or practical and eat or go shopping when we get upset about something. If anything, I am more practical than my husband and make many of the decisions in our household though I do involve him in the decision making process. All that aside, I tried to look at it and see this book from a man's point of view as best I could, but I just didnt find anything in it that told how to build a relationship with your son. It was more a collection of anecdotal stories, many of which were weak at proving any point. I am not even sure how qualified the author even is in writing a book on building a relationship with your son. I am not convinced that merely fathering 3 boys and being a minister in a church where fathers and sons attend gives you the credentials to write a book on this subject. I would rather get this advice from a family counselor or psychologists who happens to be a father. I really cant see myself recommending this book to anyone.
Profile Image for Lisa.
154 reviews1 follower
June 12, 2009
The analogies in this book APPALLED me. I get where the author is coming from, he's not writing from a malicious place at all. He's genuinely trying to help people and I understand he writes the way he does sort of as an occupational hazard, but this book is WAY too preachy and it comes off extremely self-serving, a little bit holier-than-thou, and obnoxious. It MIGHT be a good Father's Day gift for someone that is into that sort of thing and I am actually going to give it to someone that might find it interesting and won't be offended by all the religious implications as I was. Needless to say, I received this as a free copy from the publisher. I would personally not fork over half a penny for this, but that's me and we're all entitled to our own opinions. If I could give it no stars, that's what it would get.
Profile Image for Melissa.
118 reviews19 followers
July 20, 2009
Yes, I know this is a book for fathers, but I won the giveaway and highly doubt Jimmy will get around to reading it anytime soon, so the task falls on me. This book is offensivee. Does this man really live in the dark ages? And, give me a break! As a woman, I don't cry over the simplest thing . . . and certainly not over someone's shoes matching their outfit! WTF?!
Profile Image for Gerrit.
44 reviews
June 19, 2009
I have a son and my wife is expecting our third who is also a boy. I want to be a good dad to my boys and girl. I have a few titles for the daddy/daughter genre but most of the dad/son books out there basically tell you not to be an ogre who expects his son to be more successful than he was. Right. Old news.

When I saw the title of this book I thought this book would be different so immediately signed up to win a free copy. When I was notified that I had won a copy I was even more excited. It wasn't until I finally received the title that I was disappointed.

At first glance this looks like a great book for any dad who wants to be a good father to his son. It is a special relationship that is also rather complicated. However, after flipping through it a few minutes before reading from the beginning, I discovered this book is more about finding hyper-masculine activities to do with your son, without seeming overbearing or abusive, than it is about how to "building a life-changing relationship." I like to do a lot of things outdoors but I don't think that buying a rifle just to go shooting with my son will make or break our relationship.

The author spends more time coming up with the next new analogy than he does actually explaining a father-son relationship. Many times in he uses two or three different figures of speech to explain the same concept. In fact, I would venture to say that this book could be about half the length--maybe even less--if he cut out the repetitive metaphors. Eventually I just started skimming the book to get finished.

Instead of focusing on how to build a better relationship, the author focuses on how hard it is to do without messing up. Okay. I get that. That's why I wanted to read YOUR BOOK. The text does not deliver any insight that is really compelling--it is mostly common sense. Thoroughly disappointed.
29 reviews
July 21, 2009
Having a degree in Child and Family Development and also being a Christian but not being male... I thought this book was an accurate text about how hard it is to be a good father in today's times. I thought that his perspective on how men and women ARE different and how many people in our society seem to have forgotten this was completely on the ball. The author tried hard to provide many examples of activities dads and sons could do together, it was obviously easier though for him to give examples of activities he and his sons enjoyed. Most fathers I know will look back and recognize the special times they spent with their children as moments they did something together no matter what it is and I believe that this is the concept that the author was trying to get across. I liked that the book was not over-the-top for religion and that it did not look down on dads that might not be as religious. It is definately a book for those who are open to Christianity and would like to instill Christian beliefs and faith in their sons. This is a book that would need to be revisited as a son grew older as it skips from first time dad experiences to older children, teens, and letting children go out into the world.

Overall, I thought this was a good book for those looking to reinforce or think over how they would like to raise their sons.
Profile Image for John.
226 reviews
July 11, 2009
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway, but moved before it arrived at my house. I'm not sure where it ended up.

Update: it eventually showed up at my new apartment months later. I did not like this book. The author tries to take a conversational tone, but I felt it was overdone. It also made his arguments less believable to me.
Profile Image for Leo.
37 reviews2 followers
September 28, 2009
Only two stars... but the book is a good read for any Dad, even if you have girls. The book isn't bad, just short. I guess I was expecting more.
I won this book on Goodreads and I am glad. I read it in one night. Lots of good advice packed into only 143 pages.
Every Dad should read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.