I thought it would be tacky to review my own book so I asked Sonya Williams to do the job. Sonya is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in bio-engineering and plans to attend medical school in 2020. Smart doesn't even begin to describe Sonya. I was so honored by her review of my new book , Great Kids Don't Just Happen, that I asked her to read her it to you in her own voice. To hear me talk about my new book, check out my book trailer.  Now here's Sonya Williams!

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Overview

Doc Smo has written his second book, titled Great Kids Don’t Just Happen, based on his many years as a practicing pediatrician. I particularly like the way the book is structured. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to one of five components of parenting that the book explains are important to raising a great kid: effective praise, age appropriate limits, healthy emotional climates, parental emotional investment, and stability. Doc Smo starts off with an introductory story in each chapter to give an example of each component. Having a story to illustrate a point is an engaging way of making an argument. Each story is based off of Doc Smo’s experience as a practitioner and shows, rather than explains, why the content is so important for parenting one’s child. My favorite was the story at the start of the final chapter - a touching, true story about a young boy with Asperger’s Syndrome which serves as a representative example of all 5 parenting pillars done right. Then after each story, Doc Smo goes into a discussion of the research and evidence that supports his ideas. He ends each chapter with a final overview and discussion and bulleted breakdown of what you can do as a parent to best support your kid. I think this is a useful and approachable way to present the information, and makes it easy to consult later.

 

Conclusion and Recommendation

Although I myself am not a parent, I think this book is an excellent edition to the wealth of parenting info out there. There are so many opinions and conflicting advice floating around in books, on blogs and scattered throughout social media in general. Doc Smo’s advice comes from years of knowledge and makes the whole crazy idea of parenting seem achievable. Reading this book makes the reader feel like raising your kid to be successful, healthy, and self-sufficient is within grasp! He certainly doesn’t sugar-coat the difficulties of raising a child, but he does offer clear, thoughtful, and knowledgeable advice on how to best help your child and stay sane while doing it. I would certainly recommend Great Kids Don’t Just Happen to future and current parents alike.

 

And a thank you!

Lastly, I had lots of fun reading this book. Many thanks to Doc Smo for the chance to get my hands on his book early and share my thoughts after reading it!