Competition: Fatherhood (The Essential Guide)

A book about being a dad? Well, seeing as though I'm a mum, I've drafted in help.

"When the Boy's Mummy was expecting the Boy, my first stop in any bookshop was the parenting section. Row after row of books about how to be an ideal mother, what mothers should be doing, the truth about motherhood and then squeezed into the end… a couple of books on what being a father is like.

Invariably, those books would also be of the humourous type, full of amusing stories. That's all well and good, but often new dads (and potential dads) do also need more practical advice: how to support the new mother, what your employment and leave rights are, even details on claiming tax credits.

It's into that niche that Tim Atkinson's "Fatherhood: The Essential Guide" fits. The book is broken up into eight chapters that cover individual stages from planning a family up to the baby's third year, including the initial important bits like how to change a nappy (Mrs. TheBoyandMe didn't have the willpower to show me for two weeks which meant she did every change) and registering the birth (or you incur a fine!). There is a wealth of other important practical information on financial help and legal entitlements.

At a little over 100 well-spaced pages it's not a lengthy book, but this is to its advantage: each topic is presented clearly with little to distract the reader from the core information. It's also very up-to-date, first published in July 2011. I can quite confidently say that had it been available a few years earlier, it would have been one of the first books I'd have turned to."

I follow Tim on twitter, and regularly read his blog, so it was a complete pleasure to be sent this for review. From my perspective, it has a wealth of easily explained information, which is crucial in the first few months after the baby arrives. Who has time to wade through chapters when you're nursing a newborn?

Fatherhood: The Essential Guide is available to buy from Need2Know priced at £9.99

Competition:

However, if you would like to be in with a chance of winning one of three copies of Fatherhood: The Essential Guide (kindly provided by Need2Know) please do the following:

• 'Like' Bringing up Charlie and TheBoyandMe on Facebook
• Visit Need2Know's website and look at the other self-help books available. Then comment below letting me know which of them you would find most helpful
• Tweet the following message:

I want to be an expert on Fatherhood with The Essential Guide https://www.theboyandme.co.uk/?p=5446

Please leave one entry only below to tell me that you have done the following.

T&C

Competition will close on Monday 14th November 2011 at 8pm. I will select three winners at random and notify them that evening. I will need a reply by Wednesday 16th November 2011 at 8pm. Need2Know are responsible for despatching the prize direct to the winners. Pressing the 'tweet' button at the top of this post does not count as tweeting the message and therefore invalidates your entry. UK entrants only.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

The three winners are:

1. Robyn Clarke
2. Kate Cunningham
3. Kirsty Fox