James C. Dobson (1936–2025)

I am a Christian, grew up in a Christian environment, went to a private Christian school. Anyone who knows me knows I lean heavily toward Conservative than Liberal. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Dobson, yet this book disappointed me. I felt like it was preaching intolerance, and encouraging parents to keep their little boys away from those "evil gay folks" - because otherwise, your child might end up just like them. Yes, that's a blanket statement for the whole book, and yes, that was a show more bit of sarcasm. I couldn't finish this one.

I for one, will not be teaching my little boy to be afraid of, hate or even to dislike anyone, due to sexual orientation or anything else for that matter, regardless of the source that tells me to do so. This book is not representative of all Conservative Christians. show less

I thought The Five Love Languages for Kids by Gary Chapman was good. I thought How to Really Love Your Child by Dr. Campbell was great. This book is even better.

Dr. Dobson begins by explaining how self-esteem can be eroded. Next he illustrates strategies for parents to help their child overcome low self-esteem. There are also "Question and Answer" sprinkled throughout the book which help emphasize the points he is making. Then there is a section on coping with self-esteem trouble. He also show more includes a section on preparing for adolescents, but I think I'll come back to that section another time--maybe next year.

My favorite part is where Dobson covers the strategy of compensation. This strategy isn't really addressed in either of the "Love" books I have reviewed because it is not a way to show love, but rather a way to teach a child to rise above.

Even though this book came out in the early 70's, the information is still so relevant today that it is almost frightening. This should be required reading of anyone thinking about having kids AND RE-reading at each stage of a child's development. show less

I actually read the 1978 edition, so I hope in the new one some of his views have evolved.
Dr. Dobson had some good points to make about the necessity for leadership by parents, but I do not like the idea of enforcing it with a switch. I also did not like the way he put down other practitioners in his field, calling them "naive," "foolish," "outrageous," etc.
I knew going in that Dr. Dobson was a Christian, but I didn't expect so many Bible quotes, nor his statements that systems other than show more the Judeo-Christian one are Wrong.
That said, he does have some good suggestions about dealing with teenagers and with hyperactive children that I found useful. For people who share his beliefs, this is probably a very helpful book; for me only slightly so, unfortunately. show less

Wow! I read this book for a book report for my class, and I really loved it. It kind of makes me nervous about bringing children in the world, and I didn't exactly agree with all of the advice but I learned so much. It gave me insight on how to be a good parent, and some of the advice was good for me to know as a future teacher because I'll be able to look for signs that the girls in my class either have a hard home life or an great one.