I was recently contacted by Christina at Chronicle Books to see if I would be interested in including one of Chronicle’s new books in my Fantastic Father’s Day Finds.  I immediately chose Handy Dads, as I know that Brian and the kids will have a lot of fun projects together as the kids grow.  I thought this book would be a neat way to jumpstart the creativity.

About Handy Dad…

Handy Dad 25 Awesome Projects for Dads and Kids By Todd Davis

Skate ramps, zip lines, go-carts, and more! In this super-fun book, Todd Davis—extreme sports athlete and host of HGTV’s Over Your Head—presents 25 awesome projects for dads to build with their kids. Busy dads can choose projects that range from simple to challenging and take anywhere from five minutes to a full weekend. Readers are given all the directions they need to grab materials that can be found around the house or at the local hardware store and get to work banging up a sweet BMX ramp or half-pipe, building a tree house or tire swing, or throwing together a slip-and-slide or tie-dye station for an afternoon of fun. With plenty of color photographs, easy-to-follow instructions, and detailed illustrations, Handy Dad is chock-full of creative and inexpensive ways to keep kids (and dads) entertained for hours.

8-1/2 x 10 in; 168 pp ; 150 color photographs, 60 illustrations
Paperback
Published in April, 2010
ISBN 9780811869584

There’s more!

To help celebrate Father’s Day Chronicle Books is also giving away a prize pack for new Dad’s which includes a Scout Journey Pack diaper bag, a Scout Walkabout Baby Carrier from Petunia Picklebottom and a daddy bookshelf including, Dear Dad, Handy Dad,Memento, Papa, Do You Love Me?, Daddy Cuddles and Daddy Kisses from Chronicle Books. Retail value of the prize pack is $445! We would love for you to let your readers know about our Help Dad Look Rad! Sweepstakes! Learn more at www.chroniclebooks.com/raddad. Winners will be announced on June 30^th, 2010.

What I thought…
The Handy Dad book is chock full of gorgeous full color photos and handy directions for building things as easy as a “bomb-proof paper airplane” to weekender projects like a tree house.  The instructions are incredibly easy to understand (even for a non-technically inclined person like me).  The instructions even include a degree of difficulty, which I appreciate, because I want to know if a project can be finished or not.  I also appreciate the handy dandy knot section in the back.  While my husband was an Eagle Scout, I never attended any scouts.  So, I do well to tie my own shoes.

My personal favorite project in the book is probably the treasure chest, and I can’t wait to get started on Daddy making one for each of the kids.  Oh, and the doll house?  My daughter will HAVE to have one of those…

My husband, who is a technically inclined geeky type, really liked the book as well.

What I would change…

I wouldn’t change anything, but I would love for them to come out with a Handy Mom edition with 25 different projects!

How I rate it…

Lady V dZine rates Handy Dad a 5 out of 5 hearts.

Where you can buy it…

Available through Chronicle Books.

Win It… Chronicle Books has graciously offered to give one lucky Lady V dZine reader a copy of Handy Dad.

Mandatory Entry: Simply visit Chronicle Books and comment back with the link of one other book you would like to add to your personal library.

***Please note- this must be done before any bonus entries will count***

Contest Specific Bonus Entries:

1 bonus entry- Like Chronicle Books on Facebook, comment on their wall that I (Lady V dZine) sent you, then comment back here with a link to your share.

1 bonus entry- Follow Chronicle Books on Twitter, tweet them that I (@ladyvdzine) sent you, then comment back here with your tweet link.

1 bonus entry- Sign up for the e-mail newsletter at ChronicalBooks.com and comment back here with the email address that you signed up with.  Remember, to avoid spam bots, please use the yourname[at]domain[dot]com formula for submitting your email address.

5 extra bonus entries- You can typically earn 3 bonus entries for each of my blog giveaways by blogging about the giveaway and linking back to my giveaway post.  However, because I want MORE people to learn about the Chronicle Books Help Dad Look Rad Sweepstakes, I am offering 5 extra bonus entries if you blog about this contest and link both to my post and to the sweepstakes at   www.chroniclebooks.com/raddad.  That is a total of 8 bonus entries if you blog about this giveaway, link to my post, and link to the Help Dad Look Rad Sweepstakes. To earn the 8 bonus entries, you must leave eight separate comments with direct link to your blog post.

Have you entered my other current giveaways yet?  You can earn extra entries into this contest by doing so!

Be sure to visit my Contest Rules and Bonus Entry Options for additional entry options.

Be blessed,

Virginia

Lady V dZine

Contest open to the US.  Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. CST on 06/29/2010.  Winner will be selected via random.org.  Winner will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to respond with mailing address.  If no response is received from the winning entrant, a new winner will be selected.FTC Compliant Disclosure- Chronicle Books graciously provided me with a copy of Handy Dad to facilitate my review and is providing the copy for the contest winner.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are 100% my own and are based upon my experience.  Your experience may differ.