Hubby is a big Dungeons and Dragons fan/nerd, so I thought this would be a really fun read for us/him. Especially as we are first time parents with a little girl who is about to turn a year old. I am a big fan of any sort of self help book that takes a really unique spin on providing the information for people to learn an better themselves. Something like this is going to help those people who may not particularly enjoy the typical self help book.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for allowing me to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

"How to Dungeon Master Parenting" by Shelly Mazzanoble is an honest, comical, and lighthearted guide to the challenges that come with parenting. While I'm not a new parent or even someone with a kid I can appreciate the challenges and scares that come with life changing events. This book represents a creative way to describe how to condition yourself to the new life with a focus centered around D&D. If you are a D&D lover this book gives creative solutions to common hardships that make it very easy to understand. After all like Shelly points to multiple times being a dungeon master is like already being a parent. You are in control of a group of toddlers who want to shape their destiny and story. They have different personalities and are extremely unpredictable. But, being a successful parent is just like being a successful dungeon master. You're there to set boundaries, pickup the pieces, and set guidelines for their story. Shelly points to multiple occasions in D&D that are directly comparable to raising a kid. After reading this book I can surely say that this should be a staple in any D&D players inventory when raising a kid and much like the dungeon masters guide it doesn't give you all the answers, but makes you feel confident that you have the tools to learn how to be a successful parent along your child's journey through life.

Super fun parenting book. This book makes sure to talk about the needs of the parents, as well as how to incorporate a DM's quick thinking and story telling in parenting. Kids learn best through play - parents can too. I loved this book and I loved reading it. Actually pretty solid advice in it too.

Thank you NetGalley and University of Iowa Press for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

This book was absolutely delightful. I was constantly laughing, and it was so relatable. Not only that, now I want to play Dungeons and Dragons! I will say, this book is more for those who are about to be parents, or recently became parents. I do wish it had more tips for older children, but I still enjoyed the read! 4⭐️

Every year I read a handful of nonfiction books, and this was a delight to read. I would say this is definitely geared towards expecting parents or parents of young children. I don't play dungeons and dragons, but my husband does. Even though I don't play, I still found this to be a really fun read.

I'm the parent of a toddler so a lot of the early chapters were fun to read but weren't as informative or applicable for me. I think it would have been fun if in the beginning of the book in the index, it would have outlined where to start if you had kids already you could pick where to start. Like more of a choose your own adventure. Even though some of the advice in the beginning wasn't as applicable to me, it was still a fun book.

I read an electronic version of this book, and there were little mini monster manual entries throughout the book. This was so cute, but the formatting was crazy in the eBook and spread the little monster entries out awkwardly. I did like how the book really focused on building community and not advocating that one type of parenting is better than another. There's even a section that outlines the different types of dungeon masters and parenting styles, the section doesn't praise one type of parenting but simply offers advice. I like that there isn't advice that puts down parents but gives solutions for all kinds of parents.

Overall, this was a fun parenting book.

Thanks to NetGalley and University of Iowa Press for the advanced copy, all opinions are my own.

A cute, relatable read for any new parent or parent-to-be, who also happens to love TTRPGs!! Would make a great baby shower gift.

How to Dungeon Master Parenting is a fun parenting book that will take your party through the birth with a handy bag of holding and an arsenal of tricks until your young heroes are ready to venture off on their own. Equal parts how-to and anecdotes, and eminently relatable, this book is full of humour and lighthearted tips to get you through the more challenging aspects of bringing up young gamers.

This is the perfect parenting book for D&D/RPG players, and leans heavily on the quick-thinking, storytelling skills of a DM. I wish I had it when my kids were younger, but I will definitely make use of it as they navigate the barbed minefield of tweenhood.

One thing I do like about this book is that it does draw attention to the needs of the parent (especially the one going through all the hormonal and physical trauma of becoming a parent) as well as those of the child. Happy DM, happy party.

I received this from NetGalley as both an ebook and an audio book (narrated by the author) . The narration was clear and engaging, and felt like the author was chatting to me.

A fun, useful twist on a parenting book - and a reference book I'll go back to.

~Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

A very cute and unique take on parenting! I think this was a really approchable way to speak to parents in a new, and less clinical or education-voiced way that will be quite beneficial.