Crawling: A Father's First Year [Hardcover]

Elisha Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2006

“There’s a head sticking out of my best friend . . . This isn’t a miracle, it’s assault. I’d call 911 but we’re already in a hospital.” So begins the birth of Elisha Cooper’s daughter, and so begins this touching and hilarious chronicle of his year as a first-time father.

Cooper gives voice to the life-changing joy, anxiety, exhaustion, and pride of new parents everywhere. At first he struggles with the “pink plastic tsunami” of baby gifts, before eventually coming to see the value of the flashy electric baby swing he nicknames “Las Vegas.” He wishes he could go for a walk with his wife, alone. He worries about protecting his child, even as he comes to the growing realization that he cannot. And throughout, he discovers new ways in which his life has changed. What’s changed? Everything.

Parents of all stripes will immediately recognize themselves here, from the bewildering numbness of sleep deprivation to the overpowering wonder felt when looking into the eyes of one’s child. Figuring it out–getting it right or getting it wrong–is all part of being a new father. Elisha Cooper has recorded every single moment of it in this charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and deeply loving book.

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.)
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Review

“I’ve long admired Elisha Cooper’s beautiful art and demonic sense of humor. But I did not know that he was also a memoirist. In Crawling he reveals truths about fatherhood that most of us are afraid to admit–and he does so with great style and heart. This book is a delight!”
–Sean Wilsey, author of Oh the Glory of It All

“Should you read a book by a man who sells his daughter’s baby presents and throws cups of urine (his own) out the window of a speeding car? You should. Cooper has produced a little wonder; a wry, unsentimental account of two of manhood’s greatest rewards: marriage and fatherhood. I loved it, and you will, too.”
–Caitlin Flanagan, author of To Hell with All That

“With a delicious sense of humor and remarkably graceful phrasing, Cooper’s journal is a gift to all new parents–especially the guys.”
–Publishers Weekly

“Elisha Cooper’s comical and delightfully unassuming memoir will appeal to anyone who considered his readiness to parent a sign of maturity, only to discover that having a child means regressing to early bedtimes, pushing a swing, and feeding the ducks. While keeping afloat on very little sleep, Cooper learns to fear and laugh and roll along–and treasure it all.”
–Jenny Minton, author of The Early Birds

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon (September 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375424555
• ISBN-13: 978-0375424557
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,341,683 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.