Crawling: A Father's First Year [Paperback]

Elisha Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2007

From an award-winning illustrator and children’s book author comes a touching, honest, and laugh-out-loud funny memoir about parenting, love, and the wonder of new life."I would have sooner been handed a bomb than a baby,” admits Elisha Cooper, early in his charming chronicle of his first year as a father. But that, like everything else, is about to change. Luckily, Cooper recorded it all: from playing Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean” as he changes his daughter's diaper, to having a romantic dinner at Chez Panisse with his wife–and baby. Cooper’s disarmingly beautiful essays about the perils and pleasures of parenthood will appeal to any reader, and especially all parents, no matter how old their children. He has done what every new parent is too busy, or too tired, to do—captured with grace the joys, fears, and stumbles of learning to raise a child for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In spite of all the fine children's books he'd written and illustrated (Magic Thinks Big; Dance!), Cooper always knew, deep down, that he didn't really like children "in person." Parents were worse. Parents were people who used to have interesting lives, but now spent their waking hours discussing how tired they were. Adults without children dined in marvelously relaxing restaurants; parents ate in horribly plastic places featuring "mac and cheese." The very act of becoming a parent—that "miracle" of his wife giving birth to Zoë—was frightening; as he said, "I'd call 911 but we're already in a hospital." In loosely chronological essays, Cooper describes his experiences taking Zoë to the local cafe, to playgrounds, to the petting farm or to "baby night" at the movies. Before long, he started to relax. He learned to give her diaper a surreptitious sniff and not make a big deal of it. Rather than complain about Zoë's outfits, he learned just to change them after his wife left for work. While he always found something new to worry about, he also realized it didn't matter, since he was so totally besotted with this dear child. With a delicious sense of humor and remarkably graceful phrasing, Cooper's journal is a gift to all new parents—especially the guys. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Hilarious and beautiful. . . . A new father finally understands what it's all about.”—Chicago Tribune“A bravely honest memoir of parenthood.”—The New York Times“Funny. . . . Cooper grows as fast emotionally as his daughter does physically.”—Los Angeles Times“Priceless. . . . Compelling and endearing. . . . A coming-of-age story that’s both hilarious and tender. . . . Knocks fatherhood off its pedestal while conveying the wonder of bringing another being into the world.” —Time Out Chicago

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307387186
• ISBN-13: 978-0307387189
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #450,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elisha Cooper is the award-winning author of "Beach," which won the 2006 Society of Illustrators Gold Medal. Other picture books include "A Good Night Walk," "Magic Thinks Big," and "Dance!," a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year. His adult books include the memoir "Crawling: A Father's First Year." Elisha Cooper lives with his family in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just for Fathers, January 11, 2007

By 

J. M. Gilbert "ArchRival" (Evanston, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crawling: A Father's First Year (Hardcover)

Mr. Cooper has set down on paper a series of memorable vignettes that vividly recount his battles and struggles with--and total adoration of--his daughter (and the idea and reality of being a father). As a young father myself, I recognized many of his psychological struggles as my own (why must there be so much pink in a young girl's life?!). But the moments and descriptions I had not experienced were perhaps the most humorous and gut-wrenching.

This is a perfect book for anyone seeking insights into (or commiseration with) what a "modern" father must wrestle with on his becoming a parent as seen through the lens of a gifted writer.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for the young father in all of us (even those w/o kids)., September 26, 2006

By 

Joshua P. Spanogle "joshuaspanogle" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crawling: A Father's First Year (Hardcover)

Since I'm not a father, I don't really read fatherhood books. (I never had the impulse to pick up one of the comedian-penned works, which I imagine to be filled with funny observations like "and the baby threw up ALL OVER!" Ha. What a gas). But "Crawling" is different. It's written by a young father who also happens to be a children's book author and who, as far as I know, has never done stand-up. Additionally, I believe, this is his first real foray into the adult world. So, how well does he pull it off? Very well, I think (this from your childless reviewer).

Crawling is funny, extremely well-written, and--I loathe to use such a precious word--poingnant. What Cooper delivers to us is a glimpse of what it's like to be a young guy toting a baby through it's first year of life. This might sound ho-hum, but Cooper is pretty unflinching in his portrayal of himself, his peers, his family. Sometimes he's a good dad, sometimes he's not. He screws up in real ways (not what I imagine to be the comedians' screw ups--"the baby threw up ALL OVER, and I wiped it up with BURLAP." Har har har.) He's got more than a bit of the angry young man in him, which leads to problems with other adults on the planet (check out the chapters "A Bunny Orgy" and "In the Land of Mothers"). In the end, the book, more than anything else, feels real.

Full disclosure: I got this book because I'm familiar with the author's other works and know the author personally. (This shouldn't discredit the review, since I wouldn't have written anything if I didn't love the book). Had I not known him, however, I probably wouldn't have picked up Crawling any more than I'd have grabbed one of the comedian books from the Humor shelf. That said, I'm very happy that I did grab Crawling, or else I really would have missed out. As a young man myself (one who wants kids), this book truly spoke to me, despite my current dearth of progeny. And that's sayin' something.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooper hit the nail on the head, September 28, 2006

By 

Daphne Uviller (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crawling: A Father's First Year (Hardcover)

Here's the thing: I'm a mother and I completely recognized myself in this book about fatherhood. Elisha Cooper's essays about his first year as a breastless parent is honest, hilarious, and insightful. I alternately laughed out loud (cliche though that may sound) and nodded my head vigorously with recognition. Cooper owns up to a short temper (check), to stealing time by dawdling on his solo errands (check) and to not changing his shirt during a cross-country drive (uh, well, maybe not...). But his attention to his daughter, to what she is thinking, feeling, and perceiving at every moment, and his articulate musings on her future and on his future with her make me want to be a better parent.
Crawling is for every potential father and mother who is apprehensive about maintaining his or her sense of self and privacy after the kid arrives. Which is to say, it's for all parents.