A balm to the soul! This book consists of many short chapters that deal with different areas of life and handle them with humor, but it's not a comedic work. Instead it tries to find the beauty and also humorous sides of hard life realities without downplaying them. That's what actually makes it so precious!
I had a bit of a hard time understanding what connected the individual chapters with each other - a real unifying thread through the book was missing, but that doesn't really matter, since everyone can relate to the topics mentioned and it is immensely encouraging and hopefilled.

I thank Netgalley and Harvest House Publishers for an ARC to read and review.

Like always, Phil Callaway brings to light his deep and profound insights using good clean humour. He never fails to make me laugh!

Laugh Like a Kid Again had me laughing with each chapter. The book. cover had me interested in finding out more. There are several quotes that I keep coming back to. This will be one of my go to books when I need a reminder to "lighten up" and find joy in the moment.

Laugh Like A Kid Again by Phil Callaway was exactly what I was in the mood for right now! Usually when I’m in a weird reading funk or when I fancy a change in reading styles, I have my go to genres, but it was so nice and so refreshing to pick up this Non-Fiction book.

Not only did this book indeed make me laugh like a kid, with it’s cheesy dad jokes and brilliant writing style that had me flipping those pages, but it also has some great moments of wisdom within those pages. Each of the chapters are short and easy to digest, making this book such an easy and super fast paced book to read. Each of which starts with a “Dads Joke” and the chapter has it own meaning and message behind it, done so in a funny way that’s guaranteed to get a laugh and giggle from you.

Not the entirety of the book is going to connect to you, as it didn’t all connect with me, therefore not being able to keep me fully engaged 100% of the time, but, you can’t expect that of a non-fiction book. Like I said above, there are some moments in the book that genuinely made me think and are honestly breath-taking to read. One of these moments is;

“Words are like salt. When blurted unwisely they bring sickness, burden the heart and increase blood pressure. When sprinkled rightly they add flavour, preserve life, and melt ice. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of using our words to build up.”

Phil Callaway has managed to make me laugh and chuckle amid all the wonderful and encouraging truths and stories. Quite a feat.

Really enjoyed this heartwarming little book. Glad I discovered him and I went and look for his podcast and subscribed immediately!

Thank you Netgalley and Harvest House for the ARC. This is my honest opinion.

Laughter is good medicine, we're told. Who doesn't need some laughter now? Callaway does a good job of giving readers lots of reasons to laugh. He tells funny stories on himself. He includes one liners, some that will make you groan. He has misprints and auto-correct lines that are crazy. There were times the tears rolled and I'm not one who laughs frequently.

I really like that Callaway includes life lessons in with his humorous stories. They are not ones to hit you over the head but rather subtle lessons included in the memoir like text.

Callaway is a grandpa so this book would appeal to older readers. But we all could use a laugh and this book is good for a number of them.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

This was a fun, helpful, sometimes poignant book. It made me laugh and made me think. I enjoyed all the funny stories. I was reading this during a time of unrest in my city. It was a great reminder that even though we live in dark times, “God has always done amazing things in the dark” (location 107).
I also appreciated his words on suffering and Christianity. There is “no other worldview where suffering is seen as a meaningful part of life. Christianity never denies the sorrow of it. Never explains the fairness of it. But it does provide purpose in it” (location 371). Well said.
This is a book of hope, joy, and gratitude. It’s a reminder of how loved we are by a sovereign God. I enjoyed it.
Thank you to Harvest House for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I recommend this book to anyone who needs a laugh, a chortle, a giggle or a smile. The author turns example of his life into comic humor with experiences we’ve all had in life “My mother sang me nursery rhymes when I was younger—to prepare me for the perils of life, I suppose. Nursery rhymes in which Little Bo-Peep lost her sheep, three blind mice lost their tails, and Humpty Dumpty lost his balance and was never able to pull himself together again. I listened as weasels went pop, cradles went crash, and an old man went to bed and bumped his head and staggered around singing, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” One song in particular depressed the life out of me. I lost my kitty, my poor little kitty, I wandered the fields all ‘round. I looked in the cradle and under the table, But nowhere could kitty be found. So I took my hook, and went to the brook, To see if my kitty was there. But there I found that she had been drowned, And so I gave up in despair. Mom sang this softly to me, kissed my forehead, then said, “Okay. Off to bed, Son. Have a good sleep.” When I had children of my own, I came up with a happier ending: So I took my hook and went down to the brook, To see if she’d gotten that far. I say unattested that she’d been arrested, And charged for driving my car.” How many times through my childhood years, these rhymes were said without forethought to how scary they were before bedtime. But it was the authors off handed comment about his mother preparing him for life that made me laugh. Anytime we can laugh at something crazy (in our lives) by looking at it in a humorous perspective, we’ve beaten the dark side. And this book does that.

During these stressful and uncertain times, Phil Calloway's latest book is just what the doctor ordered. I have often experienced the healing properties of laughter. Laugh Like a Kid Again offers up a great collection of humorous anecdotes along with some pretty good advice on the subjects of marriage and parenting. Thanks to NetGalley and Harvest House Publishers for the advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Phil is funny! I enjoyed reading this book. And I want to find more joy in every day life- find my inner 5 year old and laugh more again! I liked the short chapters about different stories- it allows you to read it, put it down, and come back again for another chapter easily.

Laugh Like a Kid Again by Phil Callaway
Phil Callaway is a very funny, relatable guy. He can see the humorous side of about any situation. The book is a quick, encouraging read that I recommend for anyone! I would be interested to learn more about Phil and his other books after reading this one. I read this during early June, 2020, and really appreciated his humorous outlook on life during such a tumultuous time for our nation.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for a little light humor with some eternal significance. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, for this, my honest opinion.

Each chapter starts with a joke and then followed up by a hilarious situation/memories/story behind a pic that got popular among the public.
The author has changed the personal names to keep these people unaffected by any chance of getting humiliated for these funny scenarios.

It was a new concept..liked it ❤️

I loved this book! It kept me in a good place, and made me laugh. It was written very well, and I immediately connected with it. These were also short chapters which makes it easy to pick up and read when you had a minute to spare.
Would highly recommend!

This book was so well written. First of all I absolutely love short stories. I was a little nervous that it was going to be focused around faith as I am not someone that is religious, though I am interested. The stories were a absolute perfect blend of true life miracles, laughter, falls, and faith. Nothing was overwhelming or too oppressive. It left me wanting more from this book and this author. I highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Laugh Like a Kid Again was a great book of humor touching many subjects. Phil Callaway gives many examples from his family life and how staying in God's love got them through times. He adds humor to these stories to remind us of the gift of laughter through all of life. It was a good book to read during hard quarantine days.

This was the perfect book to read a couple chapters of before bed each night. It was lighthearted with some more serious moments sprinkled in. I very much appreciated getting access to an advanced copy - the cute book cover is what originally drew me in!

We are in some weird times right now and life doesn’t feel easy, so when I spotted this book title on NetGalley, I immediately requested it – the little cereal smile on the cover definitely drew me in too!

As the author says:

“…how can we laugh when times are hard and people disappoint? How can we lighten up when storms threaten and anxiety reigns? May these stories remind us that we are loved unreasonably, that we are in good hands, that God has always done amazing things in the dark.”

And you know what, the stories in this book did just that. Each chapter not too long, and like the previous book I read, would probably have been better spaced out over a longer period of time, but I read the book over just a few days. But each chapter made me smile and reminded me of the God who loves me and is the source of my joy.

“Lasting joy is elusive until we understand who we are and whose we are.”

Each chapter started with a ‘dad joke’ and then a quote from someone famous, then continued with a personal story from the author. When I imported the preview copy of this book to my kindle, Amazon messed up the formatting which led to a bit of confusion to start with when I thought the joke was attributed to the author of the quote too – it seemed a bit too unlikely!

I do love a good joke though, the ones that are so bad they’re good are my favourites.

“I was sitting on a plane when the guy beside me said, ‘Look at those people down there. They look like ants’. I said ‘They are ants. We haven’t taken off yet’.”

One of my favourite chapters was misheard lyrics for worship songs, like “Behold he comes, riding on a cow” (riding on a cloud) and “Open the Eyes of My Hot Dog” (My Heart Lord). I couldn’t stop laughing!

I did find that at certain points during the book I wasn’t as engaged, and I think that was more a reflection on me and where my head is right now than a judgment on the book, which I thought was genuinely fab and definitely achieved it’s mission of making me laugh again.

But it definitely wasn’t all laughs either and I highlighted a huge amount of quotes that really made me think. This, though, is the one that stuck with me the most – such a lovely way of interpreting our reminder to be salt (and light) in the world.

“Words are like salt. When blurted unwisely they bring sickness, burden the heart and increase blood pressure. When sprinkled rightly they add flavour, preserve life, and melt ice. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of using our words to build up.”

It is so good to have a sense of humor, and even better to use it! Phil Callaway knows how to find the bright side of life even in difficult circumstances. And I like that his jokes are just that - laughing at the circumstance, not jabbing at people. I think that the book shows this truth that the author offered to the reader: Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl wrote, " Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances." Jewish people know a thing or two about suffering. So Phil Callaway has many stories from prisons, ministry to the sick and unfortunate that bring wisdom, they encourage and inspire.

I enjoyed this book and thought it was really cute and appropriate for the times that we are in. I needed Callaway's comforting and beautiful words during these crazy times. I highly recommend this book :)

When I started this book I expected not to enjoy it but I was wrong. I thought it would be full of silly stories but it was much more that that.
Please be aware that this is a book with a religious under-current. I did not know this on first embarkment.
As I read through the book though I found I enjoyed it more and more. I would not say I am overly religious but enjoyed the mix of silly anecdotes, look in to family life and Bible quotes throughout.
A refreshing read.