Fathers Day Books

Although very easy to read, I felt that the book never really grabbed you and pulled you in. Goldman does a good job creating all the characters, but doesn't seem to know what to do with them after that. Certainly shows the dark sides of a bad marriage and its affects on a child. A decent read, but Goldman has done so much better!

. . .but I am not impressed. I understand that this is a Jesse Bear version for the younger set, but I find the text boring. However, that must be an adult's opinion, because I see my daughter coming back to it over and over. . .

I bought this book as a Father's Day Gift for my dad who has more hilarious stories than I can possibly count. I thought he'd enjoy writing them down--in a book that I can treasure for the rest of my life. Many of the questions in this book are quite thought-provoking and encourage story-sharing. Unlike other memory books, there is adequate room for answers! However, a warning about this series.... These books are undoubtedly published from a religious perspective not explicitly stated in the description. Thus, they will not apply to everyone. For example, this book has entire sections devoted to Mission Experiences, Church Affiliation and Service, Priesthood Ordinations, etc. And some other less-than-useful sections that don't apply to everyone (ie: Scouting, Military Service, etc). If you're from a deeply religious background, this will be a great series for you. If not, you'll end up tearing out many of the pages. Luckily, the book is spiral-bound so it was easy for me to tear out the 20+ pages too religiously-slanted for my father. Once I did that, it became a good keepsake for my family. A great way to share memories and a fun gift!

This is not very fun. It only has 2 cards and not a good variety of stickers.

This tome's oddly clumsy and unrevealing title provides a good clue to the narcissistic mediocrity of the book itself. One would assume that a work even ostensibly written by the youngest (and, some claim, favorite) son of Ulysses S. Grant would have a plethora of inside information about the General/President/world-traveller/author--one of the most famous and remarkable men of his time--but, bafflingly, such is not the case. Instead, we are treated to, in effect, "The Jesse Grant Story." Even this is evidently largely the product of a ghostwriter--and, judging from results, a third-rate one, at that.

Instead of such matters as the Civil War, Reconstruction, Presidential politics, and world travel, the reader is instead treated to hundreds of pages of Jesse's stamp collection, Jesse's baseball team, Jesse's hobbies, Jesse's schooldays, Jesse's trips out West, Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. This was clearly a guy who had a deep, passionate, unswerving, lifelong love affair with himself. His father is allowed the occasional cameo appearance in this memoir, but nothing is really allowed to interrupt the official author's virtually limitless fascination with Jesse Root Grant. A pity this interest cannot be shared by anyone else.

If you feel the need to examine absolutely everything ever published about the Grant family, this book might be worth your time and money. Otherwise, it can be ignored without regret.

This is the first book I have EVER returned. I had hoped, despite the cover, that this book would be applicable to children with parents in any branch of the military. It is NOT. It's very strictly Navy oriented, with dad getting on a ship and working on a ship. Also, the book is very poor quality for the price and the pictures are poorly done computer graphics. Skip this and go for another book on the subject!