Even though I've been a parent for 20 years, I'm always open to fresh insight into the hardest job on the planet. But honestly, in the marketplace of parenting self-help books, it's pretty hard to make an impression.
The first thing that struck me about the book was the authoritative way the author spoke about parenting young children up through teens. But as the book progressed, it became evident that the author wrote the book when he had children under 5 years old. I question an author's credibility to instruct on parenting with so few years of personal experience. I really wish the author had targeted parents of young children only and left the assertions about the middle school and high school years for a later book--after he had journeyed through those years. The words of someone who has not walked that path come across as hollow and superficial.
I honestly could not get past the first half of the book because it was so much cobbling together of discussion on other people's works (that unfortunately requires the reader to skip to the back of the book to find original source). I felt like the book lacked a clear purpose and structure. There was a common refrain of raising kids who "live, love and lead well" but I felt that those concepts were not clearly developed.
I am sure the author means well and is wholeheartedly wanting to help families. I just could not get past the feeling that he and his wife are on the very young end to be instructing others. The book relied too much on other people's clinical or psychological works. And I felt there was just not enough Biblical substance for parents to glean.
Sample the first chapter and decide for yourself. There may be families who will benefit from
Straub's ideas. But if a mom or dad had time to read only one book on parenting this year, I think their time would be better spent on something else.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Safe House from Blogging for Books for the purpose of review.
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