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Geek Parenting

All the life lessons, values, and advice from pop culture that parents need to raise geeky children.

It takes a starship to raise a child. Or a time machine. Or a tribe of elves. Fortunately, Geek Parenting offers all that and more, with thoughtful mini-essays that reveal profound child-rearing advice (and mistakes) from the most beloved tales of geek culture. Nerds and norms alike can take counsel from some of the most iconic parent–child pairings found in pop culture: Aunt May and Peter Parker, Benjamin and Jake Sisko, Elrond and Arwen, even Cersei and Joffrey. Whether you’re raising an Amazon princess, a Jedi Padawan, a brooding vampire, or a standard-issue human child, Geek Parenting helps you navigate the ion storms, alternate realities, and endless fetch quests that come with being a parent.

Includes parenting experts from across time and space, such as:

Luke and Vader
Korra and Tenzin
Wednesday and Morticia Addams
Frodo and Bilbo
Rose and Jackie Tyler
Carl and Michonne
Thor, Loki, and Odin
Starbuck, Apollo and Adama
Stewie and Lois
Sarah Manning and Mrs. S.
T'Challa and T'Chaka
Spock, Sarek, and Amanda
Claudia and Lestat
San and Moro
Perseus and Zeus
Dorothy and Auntie Em
Bruce Wayne and Alfred
Buffy and Giles
Meg Murry and Aunt Beast
Orpheus and Morpheus
Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica
Kal-El and Jor-El
Chakotay and Kolopak
Scott and Dr. Evil
Diana and Hippolyta
Alexander and Worf

Posted by impart

Dad Magazine

Packed with dad jokes and parenting humor, this parody magazine is the perfect gift for Fathers Day or cool dads anytime.

This hilarious dad-centric satire is the first magazine written exclusively by dads, for dads! Complete with hard-hitting feature reporting (“What’s Going On with Your Neighbor's Lawn?”), in-depth lifestyle articles (“How to Talk to Your Son About Growing A Beard”), fashion tips (“Buying Shoes on eBay: A Guide”), and insightful opinion pieces (“These Smoke Detectors Are Too Damn Sensitive, If You Ask Me”), this is the perfect faux periodical for dads of every age, facial-hair style, and sandals/socks combo. Photos, illustrations, and humorous (fake) advertisements throughout showcase all the frustrations, failures, and funny moments that make up the face of modern fatherhood.

Posted by impart

How to Make Your Baby an Internet Celebrity

Quirk’s How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity showed cat lovers everywhere how to become global multimedia entrepreneurs. Now new parents can share the wealth thanks to this delightful companion volume. Armed with this handy, tongue-in-cheek guide, you’ll learn how to spot your baby’s potential and document each potentially adorable move—from wobbly first steps to refusals to eat “bwoccoli.”

Plus, you’ll get advice for dealing with tantrums (yours or theirs) and sticky tax situations (“it’s for her college fund, I swear!”). Filled with hilarious advice and adorable photography, it’s the perfect gift for new parents with an eye for talent.

RICK CHILLOT is a former baby and current writer and editor at Quirk Books. He has contributed to magazines such as Psychology Today, Parenting, Mental Floss, and Prevention. In his twenty-plus years in publishing he’s interviewed about a jillion scientists and doctors and therefore had no need to consult any of them for this book. DUSTIN FENSTERMACHER is a photographer whose work has appeared in the New York TimesVice, the Village Voice, Washington Post Magazine, and a litany of other publications.

Posted by impart

Stuff Every Dad Should Know

On the heels of the successful Stuff Every Man Should Know and Stuff Every Husband Should Know comes the most important volume yet in Quirk’s handy guides to practical manhood: Stuff Every Dad Should Know. It’s full of the indispensible hands-on wisdom that all fathers need in order to instill that comforting sense of “dad awe” in their children, including:

• How to Fix a Boo-Boo
• How to Stop a Temper Tantrum
• Five Great Books to Read with Your Child
• How to Rid a Room of Monsters
• The Birds and the Bees for All Ages
• How to Photograph Your Child
• And many more!

Blending humor, practicality, and wholesome family values, Stuff Every Dad Should Know is a Father’s Day slam dunk and a must-have pocket reference for any dad or dad-to-be.

BRETT COHEN is the author of the 110,000-copy-selling Stuff Every Man Should Know and the coauthor of the follow-up hit Recipes Every Man Should Know. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and children.

Posted by impart

Stuff Every Mom Should Know

This pocket-sized parenting guide for moms and moms-to-be is perfect for a baby shower or Mother’s Day gift.

This little handbook is filled with all the secrets and strategies a smart mother needs to know. Featuring tips for mastering quick and easy meals, suggestions for baby-proofing like an expert, advice on stocking your medicine cabinet, tricks to making a long wait fun, and much, much more, such as:

•  How to Swaddle a Baby
•  Fifteen Birthday-Party Survival Tips
•  The Truth about Potty Training
•  The Miracle of White Noise
•  Comebacks for Unsolicited Parenting Advice

Posted by impart

The Grandparents Handbook

No longer content to sit on rockers and bake cookies, today’s grandparents are involved in the lives of their grandchildren more than ever before. The Grandparents Handbook features dozens of activities that will guarantee hours of fun, educational quality time-from building dollhouses and catching fish to flying kites, baking bread, making your own mini golf course, creating a family newspaper, and much more. These illustrated instructions will lead grandparents down surprising paths of discovery as they teach the youngest generation about family, friendship, and the world around them. It’s the perfect gift for any grandparent and grandparent-to-be!

ELIZABETH LABAN is a Philadelphia-based writer, editor, and mother of two. BARBARA TROSTLER is Elizabeth’s mother and the grandmother of two. She lives in Philadelphia, about four blocks from grandchildren Alice and Arthur. DR. MYRON LABAN is Elizabeth’s father-in-law and the grandfather of five. He hops on airplanes whenever he can to visit grandchildren Eli, Dahlia, Alice, Arthur, and Logan.

Posted by impart