Gary Paulsen's Latest Laugh-out-Loud Middle Grade Book, "HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DAD" Will Have Reluctant Readers Not Wanting to Put This Book Down (Review)

Disclosure: I was sent a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.

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Can an old dog learn new tricks?  If you said, "Yes," then do you think you can train your dad, too?  :-)  This recent middle grade book is the perfect book to read when you want a good laugh, or just want to go on a silly adventure with Carl and his dad. Even the most reluctant of readers will have a hard time putting this book down once they start reading it, as it is will have you laughing right from the start, and leave you wanting to see what happens next with Carl and his dad.  Both of my girls read this book in one sitting, and after hearing them giggling as they discussed their favorite parts together, I had to get in on the fun and sat down the other night to read this middle grade book.  

Even though there are no pictures/illustrations in this book, you really don't need them, as you will find yourself picturing Carl trying to use principles listed on a puppy-training pamphlet to change his dad's ways.  I couldn't help but chuckle as I read through the book, while wondering what I would have done if I was Carl and my dad was this unconventional dad who was trying to make his kids live an off-the-grid, recycled everything life. As I read through the book, I couldn't help but see why Carl wanted so desperately to change his dad's ways.  But, as the story went on, I found myself hoping that Carl would see eye to eye with how his dad operated and maybe compromise a little.  While many of his dad's ways of life would leave any kid wishing he could crawl under a rock and hide, some weren't all that bad...if only Carl could see this and appreciate where his dad was coming from, maybe moving forward and embracing change and their own unique ways of life would be made easier.  

This really is a fun book for middle grade students to read, and will have them laughing as they read through the pages of the book.  They will get a kick of Carl trying to use the puppy training pamphlet to change his dad's ways...or maybe not.  You'll have to read this book for yourself to see if you can teach a dad new tricks, when they are set in their ways. :-)

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More about this book:

"From the legendary author of Hatchet, a laugh-out-loud middle-grade romp about a boy, his free-thinking dad, and the puppy-training pamphlet that turns their summer upside down.

Twelve-year-old Carl is fed up with his father's single-minded pursuit of an off-the-grid existence. His dad may be brilliant, but dumpster-diving for food, scouring through trash for salvageable junk, and wearing clothes fully sourced from garage sales is getting old. Increasingly worried about what schoolmates and a certain girl at his new school might think of his circumstances—and encouraged by his off-kilter best friend—Carl adopts the principles set forth in a randomly discovered puppy-training pamphlet to “retrain” his dad’s mindset . . . a crackpot experiment that produces some very unintentional results.

This is a fierce and funny novel about family and untangling some of the ties that bind from middle-grade master Gary Paulsen."

Disclosure: I was sent a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.