The Dad Checklist: Practical Skills to Teach Your Children

Winner of the 2013 Best Parenting/Family Award from the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group! The Dad Checklist gives fathers (and mothers) a quick reference of practical skills and information to pass along to their children. Dads have to remember a lot of things, like how to find the North Star, which cable goes where to jumpstart a car, how to remove splinters, the best way to teach a child to throw a baseball, and what to feed the children when Mom goes out. Dads need to know how to teach children to tie a square knot, skip a rock, cook chili, do basic home repairs, and make paper airplanes. Dads should be able to answer questions like why is the sky blue and grass green, what is the speed of light, who was the all-time best second baseman in baseball, and does a full house beat a flush. Not to worry. The Dad Checklist is the Swiss army knife of parenting, with information about Sports, Outdoors, Tools and Repairs, Cars and Boats, Grilling and Home Cooking, Science and Technology, Culture, Fun, and Family. You'll learn how to remove a splinter, jumpstart a car, paddle a canoe, name the best football players by position, pack the right equipment for a camping trip, and patch drywall. You'll learn a few great poems and songs to share with younger kids and be able to list the Seven Wonders of the World for older children. You'll even find a few suggestions on spending time with your children - time where you can add some tools to the knife and hone the blades you already have.

Raised in Memphis, Jeff Levinson has led canoeing and hiking trips, built furniture, worked on two presidential campaigns, bartended, played sports, coached kids' soccer, done volunteer work, earned graduate degrees, and advised companies in fields of technology, publishing, business skills, and construction procurement. None of that prepared him for being a Dad.