What Dr, Spock Didn't Tell Us

By Whitney Darrow Jr. and Buddy Atkinson

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: B007TBHMQ8
• Release Date: January 1962
• Publisher: DELL
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Funny Early-Warning System To A Kid

I also read this book when I was about 10. (I have no idea whose it was or where it came from.) It was fun to read, even for a kid. Drawings accompany every humorous essay on such ailments as "Ingrate's Stammer". Some of the brighter or older ones probably wouldn't relate to the problems as their own. They weren't, and I didn't! The most important, earthshaking thing to note about this book: In the introduction or foreword, the author says something to the effect of, "I won't tell you too many ailments, for fear that people will stop having children, and I wouldn't want that. So we'll tell you just a few of them." At about age 10, I thought this was egregiously sneaky and underhanded. I also thought "Misery must love company". I was forewarned! And.... I decided not to have children. No regrets there! Absolutely the good, wise, happy, right choice. Let other people find out about the ailments when it's too late! And this book was one of my early warning systems. This book was so much one of my pivotal experiences that decades later I started searching for it, having forgotten the title and correct author. I have heard, as an adult, that people who have bred offspring are sneaky about not telling people who haven't reproduced about the problems. So here it is: I am giving this book full credit where credit was not due.

Forewarned is a Happy Forearmed

I also read this book when I was about 10. (I have no idea whose it was or where it came from.) It was fun to read, even for a kid. Some of the brighter or older ones probably wouldn't relate to the problems as their own. Drawings accompany every humorous essay on such ailments as "Ingrate's Stammer". I thought all these years until now that the book had been written by the Berenstains. Perhaps they illustrated it? The most important, earthshaking thing to note about this book: In the introduction or foreword, the author says something to the effect of, "I won't tell you too many ailments, for fear that people will stop having children, and I wouldn't want that. So we'll tell you just a few of them." At about age 10, I thought this was egregiously sneaky and underhanded. I also thought "Misery must love company". I was forewarned! And.... I decided not to have children. No regrets there! Absolutely the good, wise, happy, right choice. Let other people find out about the ailments when it's too late! And this book was one of my early warning systems! It has never occurred to me to start speaking and writing of my experiences until now. It's one thing to be proud of my life choices. It's quite another to have several decades pass before it occurs to me to speak and write about them. This book was so much one of my pivotal experiences that decades later I started searching for it, having forgotten the title and correct author. I have heard, as an adult, that people who have bred offspring are sneaky about not telling people who haven't reproduced about the problems. So here it is: I am giving this book full credit where credit was not due.

Possibly the Funniest Book I Have Ever Read

When I was a child in the 60s, my parents owned this little book (obviously an earlier edition). Even though it was written for adults and I was only 9 or 10, I literally laughed out loud every time I read it, and I read it many times. When I wanted something fun to read, I could pull out the Dr. Spock book. I have never forgotten it in the 30 years since then and have been wanting to get my own copy for some time now. As with the previous reviewer, I remember well the curse of Vesuvius Bladder, along with other childhood horrors, such as Eddie Arcaro's Ride...I should keep quiet, so that search list for copies doesn't get too long.

Wonderful, hilarious depiction of children's ways of life.

I spotted this little-known book in the library at VA Tech and have been trying to get my own copy ever since. Numerous humorous drawings are used to enhance the tongue-in-cheek descriptions of various diseases, such as Vesuvius Bladder. This disease can be spotted when young male babies release their bladders while on the changing table. This book should be turned into a calendar.