The Ultimate Stay-at-Home
Dad Manual
A practical guide for modern-day parenting geared towards stay-at-home dads, offering advice on everything from learning to cook and clean with children, to dealing with mental health and relationships, with the easygoing perspective that dads can use their natural talents to parent any way that they choose.
The Ultimate Stay-at-Home Dad manual takes the best advice and wisdom from a dads' group, and puts it into a format to help new stay-at-home fathers. Characterized by actionable and direct advice to fathers, the book takes on parenting from a father's point of view and encourages dads to use their natural talents to become a better parent. That advice is further bolstered by an additional 57 other dads who also give advice. All this advice is framed by the author's personal stories, which help the reader connect with the content and drives the advice home. This is a book that takes on day-to-day parenting, not just as a stay-at-home dad--working fathers could benefit from this book as much as at-home dads.
"Carpenter mixes general advice (parenting should be viewed as an adventure) with quirky anecdotes of things he’s done with his children (visiting the World’s Largest Ball of Twine). The savvy mix of lighthearted quips and straightforward guidance will be a lifesaver for at-home fathers."
Publishers Weekly
The Reviews Are In
"His isn’t the typical general how-to manual; instead, it’s about what worked for Carpenter, and the easy-to-read guide is peppered with colorful language, humor, and some profanity... VERDICT A helpful and enjoyable read for the growing population of dads at home, in a market saturated with books for moms."
Library Journal
The Ultimate Stay-at-Home Dad is a rollicking guide, rich with tips and hilarious anecdotes that soon-to-be dads absolutely need, and that veteran dads can chuckle along with. While rooted in humor and levity, the book encompasses the diversity of emotions a father feels while living out the day-to-day of parenthood, from the soul-crushing and life-giving moments to inexplicably sticky ones that have to be scrubbed off of the wall.
The Pitch
"When kids need advice, they turn to dad. And as a dad, when I need advice, I turn to Shannon Carpenter! Not only is Shannon the ultimate at-home dad, he's a masterful storyteller as well. His book is a must-read for parents and parents-to-be. And unlike typical advice books, this one is filled with hilarious and relatable stories you're going to love."
Andrew Knott, Humorist and Author of Fatherhood: Dispatches From the Early Years.
SHANNON'S STORY
Shannon Carpenter has been a stay-at-home dad since 2008. He is also a humor writer trained through the famous Second City. Whether writing social satire or parenting essays, he is always able to find your funny bone and leave you with a lasting impression. He has done public readings on local NPR affiliate KCUR and teaching through the National At-Home Dad Network, and the Dad 2.0 national conference, which named him one of the funniest dads of 2019.
Shannon has also given interviews about his experiences to Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNBC, Slate Magazine, and The New York Times, as well as his local NBC and FOX stations. Redbook magazine has named him as one of America’s “Adventure Dads.” Finally, BuzzFeed recognized him as one of the funniest women of the week in 2020, which was weird because he is not a woman. However, he is very funny.
