Cute little stories from a father about his three daughters.

I had some smiles, a chuckle or two. I think it's like everyone believes, our own children are the funniest we've ever seen. Everything they do is so cute.

Thanks to Penguin Group and Net Galley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Every parent can relate to something in this parenting collection: the exhilaration of alone time coupled with the anxiety that your little ones are growing up too fast. My favorite was Never Completely as dear daddy struggles to capture the nuances of school dropoff to his wife and failing. It could be that nuance and flow were lost in translation. At any rate, I found a chuckle or two in the remainder of the book, but the rest of the collection was very one note. I was looking for a more varied tale on Matteo's day to day. Instead, I found that one season was much like the previous. Sleepless Nights is a bit of mixed bag for me.

3.5 stars - a very cute and breezy read from a dad caring for three daughters. As a parent of an 8 year old daughter, a lot of it was very relatable and funny as we have had similar conversations or observations with our daughter. Fast and amusing, it's a great book that you can read a few passages and put it down and come back a day or so later and pick back up. It really is the everyday moments that make parenting fun, interesting, sometimes frustrating, always rewarding and Bussola seems to really get that and enjoy it for every moment.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Every parent who's worth their salt sees the world afresh through their children. Like looking through a kaleidoscope, you see all the colors of the world mingled and reborn into new shapes when you look at the world through the perspective of your little ones. I do anyhow, though I never really seem to wrap it up quite as poetically as this author does. Yet that's exactly what he did in this book <I>Sleepless Nights and Kisses for Breakfast: Reflections on Fatherhood</I>. Between these covers, Bussola takes all those reprocessed thoughts and experiences, in their wide array of colors and emotions, and bleeds them onto the page straight from his soul.

Every story, journal entry, letter, and musing that Matteo included in this endearing compilation comes directly from his experience as a father. The tender love he feels for his children is clear as crystal. Through every detail I could sense his incredible awe and utter captivation. He lives and breathes to be a father, and the evidence he's chosen to share with his readers is simply beautiful. It's also thought-provoking and at times very very funny.

As I curled up to read, I found myself frequently highlighting portions that pulled at my heartstrings or made me laugh out loud. They almost all did; however, some more than others. Those that made my "favorites" list are as follows: Feet and Music, All for One, That's My Mother, Daughter to Go, The Cookie, The Courier, Us Two, Prejudice, Letter to My Daughter Who Is Growing Up, Ears, New Shoes, and Two of Hearts. <I>Sleepless Nights and Kisses for Breakfast</I> definitely goes a long way towards putting life in perspective. I hope going forward I can be more like Bussola, looking at life not just as a big picture, but instead as a mosaic comprised of all these intricately woven, beautiful, little moments. We all only live once, and our children won't be small forever. Let us all take a page out of the author's book and leave the tomorrows and the next weeks for our future selves to deal with; let's live in the now and soak up all the wonder our precious children have to offer.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for proving me this advanced review copy and opportunity. It's been a genuine pleasure.

For any new parents this is a must read. It showcases so many things that we all think and feel as we go through the motions of learning to be a parent and living off of zero sleep.

Here is a review by Jennifer: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1966250476

I'm so glad NetGalley made this English translation of Bussola's original Italian available for an early read!

Delightful. Poignant. Real. Funny. Vulnerable. Human.

I could stop there, but that would do this a disservice. I understand that the stories in here are from Bussola's Facebook posts about his life with three daughters and being a father. They are brilliant, heartwarming, candid...okay, more adjectives... Here's a snippet, from when his six year old was asking how someone blind could love (there's more to the story...):
"So love is like music, Daddy?"
"Sort of, yes. But you can't feel it through your ears."
"Well, how then?"
"Well, through everything. Even your nose. Yours Hands. Your feet."
"No way! How can you feel it with your feet?"
"I'll give you an example. You know hat girlfriends do to their boyfriends, to test whether they really love them? Your mom always did it to me."
"What?"
"At the beginning, when I used to go to her house, or she would come to mine, and she slept over, your mom would always put her freezing feet on my back or my legs."
"And what did you do?"
"I left them there and warmed them."
"But didn't they make you really cold?"
"A little, sure."
"So when Mommy put her feet on you, you heard music, Daddy?"
"Always."

Enjoy this.
{I thought I had already posted this a few weeks back, but saw that I hadn't.}

Mr. Bussola is a born storyteller. He tells us the story of his adjustments to parenthood and raising his three daughters. As he says, he sees the world through their eyes.

When I started laughing out loud after just a few pages, I was hooked. I was impressed with the way he uses words that are so descriptive he paints a picture in your mind. And it’s really written simply, but with big impacts with his little stories and discussions with the girls.

I think my favorite little tidbit was this one;

“So love is like music, Daddy?”
“Sort of, yes. But you can’t feel it through your ears.”
“Well, how then?”
“Well, through everything. Even your nose. Yours Hands. Your feet.”
“No way! How can you feel it with your feet?”
“I’ll give you an example. You know hat girlfriends do to their boyfriends, to test whether they really love them? Your mom always did it to me.”
“What?”
“At the beginning, when I used to go to her house, or she would come to mine, and she slept over, your mom would always put her freezing feet on my back or my legs.”
“And what did you do?”
“I left them there and warmed them.”
“But didn’t they make you really cold?”
“A little, sure.”
“So when Mommy put her feet on you, you heard music, Daddy?”
“Always.”
The girls are charming as are his reactions to them.

Does it sometimes read like his blog? Yes. Maybe a bit scattered, but it’s still a lovely story of a father being really present in his girls lives. How important active listening is and how important a father is in a girls life.

Thank you Netgalley and TarcherPerigee (Penguin). This version comes out May 9,2017.

I was excited to read this book from a Dad's point of view and sadly found it hard to follow and very dull. I wasn't able to finish the book for these reasons. I was hoping to view the highs and lows of parenting through the father's eyes and instead, it was a bunch of rambling with uninteresting stories and felt I just could not complete the book.

A lovely, funny, touching visit with the father of three daughters. The fact that the author is a cartoonist/illustrator who lives in Italy truly adds another character to the tale.

Sleepless Nights and Kisses for Breakfast contains little journal entries or blog type posts by a work from home dad who has three young daughters. Some of the entries reminded me of when my children were young. I felt like the book needed some way to tie it all together. The entries, although grouped by the seasons of the year, seemed mostly random. I didn't find the book inspirational, nor did I find it offensive. I guess it fell a little flat for me.

This was an enjoyable read, light and uplifting, interesting and thought provoking. Would definitely recommend it.

I received an advance copy of the English translation from Net Galley.

Heart-warming reflections on fatherhood made me laugh, smile and ponder. Bussola, a work-at-home cartoonist, takes on the everyday tasks and joy of caregiving for three daughters ages two, four and eight. He shares insights from everyday events that too many of us find ourselves too busy or distracted to experience.

Pure delights are the re-countings of conversations with his daughters. "Daddy, why is the sun out if it's winter?" In response to being told they are going to mow the lawn 4-year-old Ginevra says, "No, Daddy ... if you mow the lawn you'll destroy all the dandelions!" Ponderings through the eyes of the young.

What a world it would be if every parent could have this kind of participation, perspective and passion.

Did not finish. Not my kind of book. Someone else would probably enjoy it very much.

This book is so heartwarming. It's a wonderful read. I love getting a peek into the day-to-day occurrences of families.

Written in a style that made me feel as though I were listening to Matteo in person. Really sweet book that I think anyone who has children would enjoy. The author really listens to his little girls and to his wife; they seem to have a good grip on parenthood and to their rather unconventional lives. I enjoyed his tongue-in-cheek perspectives and his stories. Well done!

This book was lovely!! As a parent, I could relate to a lot of the stories the author wrote. I liked the author's writing style (wish my Italian was better so that I could read it in the original language). Overall, it was a refreshing read. Will definitely read something by this author again.

This books is a quick, light, enjoyable book. I found many chapters with humor and found myself laughing out loud with some of the scenarios. At times it was thought provoking and enlightening for child rearing. The author did a great job bringing to life the joys and challenges of raising 3 daughters. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

“Sleepless Nights and Kisses for Breakfast,” is written by a young Italian father, Matteo Bussola, whose three young daughters “are the lens through which I observe the world.” It’s a sweet little memoir composed of blogs reflecting on his world with three girls who obviously control his being, along with a lovely wife who shares his voyage.

Bussola says that “being a father means living in that gray area between responsibility and carelessness, strength and softness.” His recollections are filled with all four elements along with a keen sense of humor that can turn moments of frustration into comical episodes that are amusing. A small concern I have is that some of his more cerebral moments are a little hokey, but there are enough wise observations to offset the banality.

If you read the book, be prepared for some wonderful remembrances, laugh-out loud episodes, and an overall feeling of joy. If you have daughters, it will be even more delightful.

This is on my shelf, but it didn't download to my kindle, so I couldn't read it.