Product Description

A word of mouth bestseller which has become one of the best loved and most successful books in the parenting field from Australian writer and lecturer Steve Biddulph, who's been called 'a mixture of Billy Connelly and Dr Spock' by The Times. Boys need to be parented in a different way from girls with their own very special psychological and physical make-up. Home, society and education have failed boys badly -- and these failures lead to unhappy men who cannot fully become happy, responsible, emotionally-confident adults. It is essential that boys spend more time learning about manhood from their fathers. And through the teen years a boy ideally needs a male mentor outside his immediate family to teach him the best way to live. Without these things boys can turn to alcohol, drugs and despair and fail to grow up into feeling, responsible adults. A book which gives good advice on: the stages of boyhood; how a mother teaches about life and love; how schools need to change to be made a good place for boys; testosterone and how it changes behaviour; how to be a good father; how to teach boys to have a caring attitude to girls and about sex.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1284 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
'a mix of Billy Connelly and Dr Spock ! Steve Biddulph is a publishing phenomenon.' The Times 'Steve's advice is easy to follow -- and more importantly, it works.' BBC Family Life Magazine

The Guardian
'Britain's number one childcare guru'

From the Publisher
Biddulph was named ‘the child with the man in his eyes’ by an article in the Independent, describing his almost uncanny ability of understanding what is going on in the minds of children.

Customer Reviews

Compulsory reading for all teachers and parents !
As a teacher of more than 25 years experience, I thought I knew quite a lot about how to educate boys in their last year at primary school. However Steve Biddulph has managed in one fell swoop to make me sit up and really challenge some of my long held beliefs in the way boys should be taught. I bought the book and within 48 hours have read it from cover to cover three times. Some of his observations had me punching the air yelling 'Yes!;some of the stories had me in tears as I recognised incidents from own childhood; and some of the life history stories made me want to hang my head in shame, because I recognised myself as the speaker of certain words, or perpretrator of some actions that caused hurt, bewilderment to the children entrusted to my care. The style is easy to read, but he also has a very powerful way with one liners that are often an uncomfortable jolt back to reality. I would like to equip every parent of every boy I am likely to teach in the future with this book - because there is no doubt - this man is a genius !

Really helped me with my son -
Readers may like to know that Steve Biddulph's books are hugely popular where we come from back in Australia - used in almost one in four family homes, according to one newspaper - precisely because they are the opposite of the past reviewers opinion - they are accessible, funny, very practical, and down to earth, and seem to be written from the heart. Biddulph has been around in Australia for about 20 years, and was brave enough to question the dogma about children being born genderless, and back this up with good science.

As a feminist, I find his book perfect because it helps me ACHIEVE those goals of raising my boy to be a great human being, but also to understand that he is not like me.

The three stages of boyhood are far from obvious, and I haven't seen them written elsewhere. But when you have a boy, you can see them at work and its a great help.

THE book on bringing up boys. Essential reading for parents.
A friend of the family who had successfully raised girl after girl with admirable tranquility then had two boys. After a couple of years, she plaintively -- and exhaustedly -- complained: "You know, they run UP walls!"

Bringing up children is never easy -- though ALWAYS rewarding. Bringing up boys does pose special challenges. Like it or not, boys are different.

Stephen Biddulph is a rare breed. An expert who speaks in simple language and goes straight to the heart of the problem. No jargon, no "new-age guru" speak here. Just solid, enlightening advice.

If you have boys, buy this book. And just one warning. Biddulp reveals that after 14, it can be too late to build those lasting channels of communication between parent and child. So don't delay, buy it today!

(Oh, just in case you were wondering, I have absolutely no financial incentive linked to sales of this book. I wish!)