Book Review: Things My Son Needs To Know About The World

Book Name: Things My Son Needs to Know About The World
Author: Fredrik Backman

Publisher: Penguin

Genre: Non-Fiction (Fatherhood) 

Format: Paperback

Print length: 208 pages 

Rating:5/5

Fredrik Backman’s Things My Son Needs To Know About The World is Fredrik’s journey of fatherhood as he tried to navigate his son’s life through the learnings he had in his life and wanted to pass on to his son.

 

Blurb

'You can be whatever you want to be, but that's nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are'

Things My Son Needs to Know About the World is a tender and funny series of letters from a father to his son about one of life's most daunting experiences: parenthood.

In between the sleep-obsessed lows and oxytocin-fuelled highs, Backman takes a step back to share his own experience of fatherhood and how he navigates such unchartered territory. Part memoir, part manual, part love letter to his son, this book relays the big and the small lessons in life. As he watches his son take his first steps into the world, he teaches him how to navigate both love and IKEA and tries to explain why, sometimes, his dad might hold his hand just a little bit too tightly.

This is an irresistible and insightful collection from one of the world's most beautiful storytellers.

Review

Things My Son Needs To Know About the World by Backman is a non-fiction work in which he has explored different topics to enlighten his son from telling him about motion-sensitive bathroom lights to expectations, and things that readers would never expect, like IKEA, and important topics like what his son needs to know about being a man. This book is a light-hearted read that will leave readers thinking, laughing, giggling, getting emotional, and cherishing his fatherhood journey. And for parents, be it a reader who is a father or mother, or even someone's child, this book has a piece of takeaway for everyone.

The author's writing style is simple, humorous, and emotionally resonating. Every lesson he shares in this book will make readers feel nostalgic, and it will feel like it is written not for his son but just for them.

In one chapter, he said, "The best advice I can give you is to buy enough plates so that you don't have to do the dishes very often." I am sure every independent bachelor trying to make a life of her own will laugh out loud while reading this because they will know it is them who would take this advice for sure. Similar anecdotes will allow readers to read through this book.

Unlike storytelling by Backman, this story feels like a diary or a collection of letters written by a father to share things with his son that he could not directly tell him and wanted to keep in the form of a book so that these lessons live forever.

If you are someone who loves to read relatable anecdotes, advice, or a book that is more like a collection of letters, then this book is a quick read that will make you feel at home, laugh, cry, and feel refreshed.

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