The Kiosk Reviews Guy Delisle’s A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting

Cartoonist Guy Delisle is better known for his graphic novel travelogues to sometimes dangerous, always mysterious, places like North Korea, Burma and Jerusalem, where he combines the everyday life of an outsider in such settings with an investigation of the wider political situations affecting his visit.

In "A User's Guide To Neglectful Parenting," Delisle turns inward and offers this collection of short stories -- originally published in France -- capturing the interaction between him and his young children.

Delisle's wife is a member of Doctors Without Borders, which is how he ends up in the places he does. As a freelance cartoonist working from home, it also makes him the primary caregiver to the kids wherever they are. In this collection, he's determined to present himself as with no romantic sheen -- often preoccupied, sometimes clueless, cranky and occasionally inappropriate -- Delisle tackles the queries of his kids with an exhausted cleverness that any parent can certainly identify with as they juggle aspects of their life while trying to guide their child into the world at large.

Delisle's son is at the age where he is questioning the childish reality grown-ups have presented to him, whether it's a little mouse that he's been told trades money for his tooth under a pillow or the Easter Bunny. His daughter is just coming into her own, interested in healthy Canadian cereals and fearing baby snatchers. Delisle almost always handles the situations wrong -- at least, if you're comparing it to a child-rearing manual.

In the hands of someone else, this book could all fall apart, but Delisle's irreverent style of parenting might well illicit an "I've been there before" reaction from those reading it. Even if not, it's a hilarious bit of honesty that actually offers an accessibility greater than any of his travelogues."