Father Knows Less Or: "Can I Cook My Sister?"

June 25, 2007
Jamieson, city editor for the New York Times
, whose seven-year-old son, Dean, has been in “full-bore question mode†for the past few years, decided that the best strategy for giving Dean the answers was also to give himself a challenge. He would get each answer “from a real person who knows it by heart, whose very livelihood depends on the knowledge†that Jamieson would present without sugarcoating or simplification. The result is a compendium of hilariously insightful questions from kids (age seven and under) with often insightfully hilarious answers from adults ranging from a doctor discussing the difference between somatic and neuropathic pain (“What would hurt more: getting run over by a car or getting stung by a jellyfish?â€) to a dominatrix explaining Mach 1 air speed (“If you don't hit anything with it, how does a whip make that noise?â€). Jamieson helpfully organizes the questions by theme into chapters, although his introductory anecdotes to each, while amusing, should have been drastically reduced to make room for more questions. Too bad this funny and fascinating book is coming out in September: it makes a perfect Father's Day gift for any dad whose child has ever asked, “Why is the sky blue?†or “Why do we have eyebrows?†or “What does 'sexy' mean?â€

September 1, 2007
When Jamieson was a little boy, he had a lot of questions. He posed these to his parents as they occurred to him, and most times his folks did their best to satisfy his curiosity. But other times they were too busy or flummoxed, and they would make things upthing adults found funny but were confusing to a little boy attempting to understand the world. As an adult, Jamieson became a journalist, and when his own son, Dean, reached the question-asking age, he decided to research the answers to the best of his ability. He went straight to the authorities on the subjects of Deans inquiries (including celebs such as Yoko Ono and countless doctors and professors) and dutifully recorded their answers. Jamieson compiles the queries and responses in his small gem of a book, along with some personal essays on parenting. It is perfect for anyoneyoung or oldwho ever wondered about such things as Is a rainbow hot or cold? or Do nose hairs turn gray? and wanted to know the answersthe real ones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)