Father of Three Daughters Says 'Read This Book'

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	• Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know Meg Md Meeker Ballantine Books, 2007 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 112 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

I have recommended this book to every father I know who has a daughter! It tells a father how important he is in the life of his daughter, and what he must do to nurture and protect his daughter. And for every bit of advice Dr. Meg Meeker offers, she sites true stories from her practice. There is such a great need for this kind of book in our society, where the role of fathers is not always clear!

Father of Three Daughters Says 'Read This Book'

I'm a father of three daughters ages 1, 2 and 3. A friend recommended this book to me as a peek at 'the road ahead', and he was absolutely right. It's a scary read at points, but like a good tonic, a necessary spoonful of advice. As the book points out, our girls grow up in a toxic world that wants to pull them in directions that aren't necessarily the best for them. Fathers play a critical role in the development and continued happiness of daughters. I recommend this book to fathers of young girls.

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Good Advice, But Will It Change Minds?

I'm of two minds about this book. Overall, I have to say that I found value in it. Dr. Meeker provides some very sound advice that is applicable to fathers with daughters of all ages. This advice is presented through a writing style that is easy to read. Thus, in general, I found Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters to be an excellent self-help book.

So, if I liked it, why am I of two minds about it? My concern lies in whether this book will influence its target audience. Now, I don't think that anyone says "I'm going to be a bad father and let my daughter grow up to be a horrible human being." But, I do think that people have different, equally valid, views from Dr. Meeker on how to be a good father and how much effort is needed to meet that goal. In order to bridge the difference between these viewpoints, Dr. Meeker needed to prominently use a lot of citations from objective sources (like scientific journals or research studies) in order to bolster the validity of her arguments. While such citations are in the book, they take a subordinate role to Dr. Meeker's anecdotes and opinions. As a result, the importance of her argument is somewhat diminished.

Like I said earlier, I enjoyed the book. And, it's pretty clear that others have enjoyed it as well. Still, I have the feeling that I and the others that enjoyed it did so because Dr. Meeker was "preaching to the choir." What I fear is that, given the relative lack of objective citations within the book, Dr. Meeker's message won't have much appeal beyond "the choir" and that an opportunity has been missed to have that message resonate with a wider audience.

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Informative

I purchased this to help my husband build a better relationship with his daughter, my step-daughter. Turned out that it helped me realize certain things about my relationship with my own father. I certainly recomend to anyone who has children.

Not Inspiration--Hard Advice

This is a book that is very difficult for me to review for a very simple reason: I agree with just about everything Dr. Meeker has to say in her book but I found her presentation so unpleasant that I couldn't enjoy the book.

In Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, Dr. Meeker gives us "10 Secrets Every Father Should Know." Many of Dr. Meeker's "secrets" are not really secrets, of course, but are things fathers of daughters should remind themselves of from time to time: you are her first love; protect her, defend her; be the man you want her to marry, etc. And she's not afraid to put it out there (teach her humility, teach her who God is, teach her to fight) which is something for which I have great respect.

On the other hand, what could have been joyful thoughts and inspirational advice is, for the most part, horrifying statistics and anecdotes of failure. Even when she tells a story with a happy ending, you have to get through pages of anger and tears to get there. (It's a good thing I didn't read this until after my daughter was born. It might have made me reconsider having children at all, since Dr. Meeker seems to believe fathers are so apt to failure.)

Plus, she has a tendency for being quite narrow in her views on what it takes to be a successful father of a daughter. She has little sympathy for mistakes. I was also a little disappointed that her take on God was so strictly Judeo-Christian, with an emphasis on the Christian. As a Roman Catholic myself, I was sympathetic, but I believe in being more respectful of other's beliefs.

Now, I'm not squeamish and I know that it's tough out there but I am generally an optimist. I believe that the vast majority of fathers want to do right by their daughters but, like all human beings, fathers are sometimes tired and weak. Like our daughters, we occasionally need a little hope and support--a bright light at the end of the tunnel. This book doesn't give hope and a bright light; instead, it gives a dangerous, hard path that only seems to lead to happiness if you're very lucky. I don't think things are as bad as all that.

Of course, it could be that I was just looking for a happy, inspirational book and so I was not in the right frame of mind for this one. Others may find it much more powerful; particularly, if you're looking for answers rather than support. Just be aware of what you're getting with this.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

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