First let me say as a complete and total disclaimer: I do not have children. Maybe this book is completely not meant for me, a childless 22-year-old.

This book made me roll my eyes sometimes - some of the stories seem a little bit too fabricated to be real. It reminded me often of that subreddit filled with totally unrealistic stories about some two year old being a woke social justice warrior or a baby genius and coming up with some snarky response that is just impossible for a child. Yeah, I don’t think so.

Also, maybe that shouldn’t be something that I should judge, but this white family has the whitest names I’ve ever heard in my whole life. Dad: Dan. Mom: Crystal. Boys: Paxton Max, Greyson Knox, and Colton Broox. Yes. Broox is that poor boy’s middle name. What is it with white people and needing to have x’s in their names?! Dan almost proudly states that the five major food groups in their house are corn dogs, ketchup, ranch, mac & cheese, and chicken nuggets. That had me rolling my eyes all over again. My wholly Indian parents would have died.

OK, now on to the good parts of the book. This was a fun and easy and fast read. Some of the chapters are genuinely hilarious, and perfectly captured what I imagine is the chaos of raising three crazy young boys. The titular hotdog people chapter is a great example of this - three crazy and disgusting boys waking up their parents in the morning, blabbing nonstop, and demanding “corn dogs without the corn” and then immediately changing their mind after their dad has already made them hotdogs. I love the interludes of Dan’s dadvice and haikus from husband to wife. The drawings are amazing. This book is worth it just to flip through for the photos. Dan definitely does a great job of capturing how gross young boys can be, because there’s always something about poop or pee or throw up or wieners or balls or buttholes. Especially how awful little boys are at peeing properly. Seriously, if you’re uncomfortable with bodily fluids, you probably don’t want to read this book.

Even though I said some of the stories were unbelievable earlier, some of them are so totally believable, because I know just how wild some kids imaginations can be. For example, one of Dan’s kids likes to pretend to be anything but himself: Thor Colton, Wolverine Colton, Captain America Colton, Lion Colton, Rhino Colton. One of the stories is about how he loves school but left school one day extremely mad at his teacher because she would not call him Rhino Colton - even though his hair was spiked up perfectly into a rhino horn. Makes sense. Dan’s commentary is also hilarious. Hard to give an example - but he genuinely seems like a funny dad, the kind you probably didn’t have but who you envied your one friend with the funny dad.

I imagine that this is a great book for parents, dads, and especially parents/dads of boys. There’s a lot of grossness, a lot of juvenile humor, and a lot of love. Underneath all of it, you can tell that Dan loves his boys a whole lot, despite all the chaos. Even though I’m not a parent, I still enjoyed this - and I think parents will enjoy it that much more. Thank you to NetGalley and Animal Media Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

P.S. I was about to finish this review but I need to mention an important thing. On page 262 of Dan’s Dadvice, he advises “Buy the flushable wipes! Your butthole is worth it too.” DON’T! None of those wet wipes are flushable. Our sewer system is not equipped to handle them and they all clump up and cause huge congealed blockages in sewer drains called “fatbergs.” These can be formed by anything that doesn’t dissolve, like condoms or tampons too. Only toilet paper (which does dissolve) should go down the toilet. These fatbergs can be as hard and solid as concrete, requiring specialized and expensive equipment to remove. If untreated, the blockages can cause raw sewage to be unintentionally discharged into the environment and contaminate waters. Please don’t take this piece of Dadvice, no matter how good those wipes feel. Use a bidet or just use TP.

Hotdog People and Other Bite-Size Sacrifices by Dan Magdich is a great book about parenting. It's funny and has great illustrations. The illustrations add to the stories well.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot tell you how many times I "ugly laughed" while reading this hilarious collection of short stories about raising three young boys. I love Dan, Crystal and all three boys but must admit "Danger Baby" is my favorite one as he reminds me so much of one of my own at his age.

"Danger Baby's taste in music includes The Ramones, Rage Against the Machine, Elvis Costello, The Aquabats, System of a Down, and Baby Shark doo doo doo doo doo doo."

Dan's writing style is irreverent, funny, and approachable. You will HOWL...I was snort laughing in bed last night while reading the chapter about Colton's dinner request for dolphin and how his witty parents handled it and the chapter about his kid yelling in Target had me in tears. (Soooooo been there.)

Even though I read this digital ARC through the generosity of Dan Magdich, Animal Media Group and Netgalley, I went online and pre-ordered a hardcopy for my dad. After all, he deserves it.

Run, don't walk, to get yourself a copy. It is so, so good and the illustrations are GOLD.

Hot Dog People and Other Bite-Size Sacrifices is a collection of short stories about 1 families adventures in parenting boys. Each story brings laughs and plenty of humor at Mom and Dads expense.
Love the writing style of the author Dan Magdich...it’s as if you are there along for the ride. The illustrations are cute and fit right in as well!!
This would be a perfect gift for Fathers Day!!!
Thanks Animal Media Group and NetGalley for the ARC of this hilarious book!!!!

This is the parenting book that we can all relate to. With topics like  Things I Wish My Kids Didn’t Yell in Target, and Dad Smarts #4: Don’t is an Incentive,  each hilarious essay will include a series of illustrations to help bring the story to life.
OMG. This book is full of humor, truth and even some great illustrations. Close to home and just a great book for DADS and Mom.