I love everything that David Thomas and the crew at Daystar Counselling do - and this book is no exception. As the parent of a boy and a pastor who works with kids regularly, David writes with clarity, practicality and hope. I highly recommend!

Although this book is from a Christian perspective, I believe the messages are universal and well grounded for any parent to encourage their children to embrace their emotions and make mental health a priority.

As a mom of two boys, the title immediately grabbed my attention. I read this slowly, in to take it all in. I loved that this book is basically a resource to guide parents to identify the best in their boys, and grow their strong points in even better strengths.

There was so much to learn and I will go back to this book as my boys grow and find themselves in different seasons.

As a runner myself, my favourite part was when the author described the team who helped the athlete break the 2hr record on a marathon. I watched this run and was amazed. But why was it my favourite part of the book - because in life, we need a team around us and our children, to help them reach goals and keep them on track - and we as parents have an important rule choosing that team in our children’s lives.

*I received a copy via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own.*

Love this book - it offers parents a different perspective on their children's social and emotional development and includes such practical tips. Every parent should read this helpful guide to parenting.

“A foundational part of raising emotionally strong boys includes anchoring them to a clear understanding of the character of Christ and seeing the strength of sacrifice.” -David Thomas, Raising Emotionally Strong Boys

As a mom of two boys, I am so thankful to have read this book. I’m sure I will come back to it often in the future.

David Thomas gives helpful and practical tips for helping boys develop emotional maturity. A foundational concept in the book is the Three Rs: Recognize, Regulate, and Repair. I especially appreciated the action steps at the end of each chapter that, if taken, help drive home the concepts in the respective chapter.

But what I really loved about this book was the overall message that our model for masculinity is not tradition or culture, but Christ. Jesus experienced the full range of human emotions while on earth and showed us what it means to be a “real man.” It is a joy-filled task to be able to point our boys and young men to him rather than an ever-changing definition of manhood found in the culture, or a stoic caricature of “traditional” masculinity.

Highly recommend this for those who are in positions of influence in boys’ lives. Let’s raise a generation of strong men in every sense of the word—physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I would give this book 5 stars if not for the author’s mention of “equity” and promotion of SEL programs in schools which have been infiltrated with CRT and woke ideology in recent years. Barring those exceptions, this was a great book for parents, caregivers, grandparents, or anyone who deeply cares about the emotional development of boys, and who are looking for useful tools in assisting boys into becoming well-rounded men rooted in faith.

I really enjoyed this balanced picture of masculinity from a mental health professional - nothing toxic about it. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I just gave birth in April to a beautiful little boy and this book taught me so much. I will definitely be looking back over it as I continue to raise my emotionally strong boy.

I really enjoyed this book. This is my first book by this author, so I was not familiar with him or his work. He give a ton of helpful, specific strategies in this book for guiding boys to process and control their emotions, so that they're not being controlled by them. Some of these I'd heard of before, but a lot were new to me. Although my son is currently an infant, I plan to try several of these with him and our family in the coming years. I liked how everything was tied back to scripture verses; however as I said he gave practical tips and strategies for overcoming common issues boys have with their emotions. I highlighted a ton as I read! I am a teacher as well and I can see how some of the strategies listed in the book for regulating emotions would also be helpful in the classroom. This is one I plan to buy to have physically on hand and reread as my son grows. I definitely plan to recommend this one to friends who also have sons.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy; I was not required to write a positive review. All thoughts about the book are my own.

I found Raising Emotionally Strong Boys an enlightening read. However, I would say that while I understand the focus is on boys, and they struggle more with the issues in this book than girls do, girls would also benefit from multiple things Thomas has outlined in this book.

Men are often skilled in avoiding pain and numbing discomfort. They struggle greatly with asking for help and attending to their health and well-being. What if we raised a generation of boys that saw prioritizing mental health as wisdom?

Thomas talks about how we are to help our boys learn to recognize stress, then instruct them on how to regulate through the stress, and finally, repair any damage that is done (verbally, physically) during their stressful moments. He calls it the three Rs. This is a skill I believe girls need to learn as well.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book was the recap of the main points at the end of the chapter. It helped drive the points home. Some of the topics discussed in this book are common emotional struggles, like anger, depression, and anxiety. Thomas also includes recommendations for other resources that would be beneficial to have your son do daily, like journaling.

My son is seventeen years old, and I wish this book had come out a few years ago. It would have helped us navigate some of the harder seasons we have had.

I highly recommend this book to parents and anyone who works with boys in any capacity.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Thanks to Bethany House for the free book.
This book is a useful part of foundational work on raising a boy, though I feel like the overarching theme - especially the three R's can be applied to all children. I liked how this author shared about how parents can connect with their son when they are in a rough place. There are also chapters on how to create a foundation to hopefully prevent problems in the future. I will be using some of these methods in my future parenting.
However, I wanted a lot more peer reviewed sources for the information presented. This is a super picky preference, I know, but I'd love to see where he's getting some of his claims. Also there is so much research out there about how sleep training doesn't teach a child to self-soothe and putting this false advice in the book could be harmful for some parents when it comes to sleep. This was a big downer for me in the book because this rhetoric was presented as fact without any sources to back this claim up. Everything I've read about little babies and toddlers is how dependence fosters independence, and this idea is totally missing. Overall, there are some great points here, and it would make a good resource to have in a parenting resource arsenal.

This is book that I wished my father, older friends and youth pastors read. Young boys need examples how to be real and connect their head and their heart.

The author helps you with tricks to see where boys get stuck, and help them to own their emotions. He helps how parents and friends can do this. He gives help to make strong habits to be the men this world needs.

He point to God and helps to live them the famous words of Jezus:
The last will be first.
Winning by dying.
The least are the greatest.
Power in weakness.
Blessing in suffering.
The poor become rich.

Be an example and I think this book hands you great tools to be that example and lead youg mean to Jezus.

I am so impressed with this book! Although I'm not a parent, I have taught hundreds of boys ages 4-11 in my teaching career. I could not help but think of the variety of personalities and levels of emotional strength in my young students.

The insights and tools in this book are excellent. It emphasizes the importance of teaching boys not only to manage their emotions, but to give themselves permission to have them in the first place. It talks about how essential it is for boys to see examples of other men being vulnerable, asking for help, losing a competition, and mourning a loved one, all without compromising their manliness. That is something I appreciated greatly, being married to a very masculine, but also a sensitive man.

I also thought about the other men in my life: my second generation absent father who also became an absent father, my brother who broke that cycle in our family and is an extremely involved dad to his children, an amazing grandfather who stepped into the father role many times in my life, cousins and uncles, circling back to my husband, who is one of the most emotionally strong men I know.

What I was not prepared for was the amount of Biblical references, which I welcome, but may limit the book's audience, unfortunately. The author uses Christ as the ultimate example of emotional strength, which I thought was wonderful. Who better to pattern your life after?

This would make a great book club selection, a terrific gift, and an interesting read for parents, grandparents, and teachers. Thank you NetGalley and Bethany House Publishers for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. I am a mother of two boys and I want to them to grow into the emotional stronger boys/men as possible. This book have given me tips and ways to develop them into emotionally strong boys/ men as possible. This will be a book to refer back to over the years.

"Raising Emotionally Strong Boys" by David Thomas brings together the authors collected knowledge of his life and career mentoring boys across life stages and ages.

While not a well researched and deep work it did have me going through it with a highlighter and notebook. I began reading it for tips on raising my son but ended up coming away understanding the male members of my family much better. While my son is a bit young to implement some of the takeaways of the book my husband is not!

The weakness of the book is probably in the introduction. There was no 'roadmap' to what I was reading and I am not familiar with the author or their previous work. I would have benefited from a 'this is what I'm going to tell you in this book and this is why it's different to my previous work'. However, once I pushed through and kept reading I got into the rhythm of the chapters and found it more useful.

A great resource! Parents, teachers, leaders can find in this book resources that they can put in action right away, without too much preparation. I think this book is a must in every home and children can really benefit from it. It is useful for parents with boys of all ages!

As a mom to 2 teenage boys, this book was helpful and is covered in highlights to read again. I loved his stories and the intentional practices after each chapter. Great, encouraging read!

I have been listening to David Thomas in the Podcast Raising boys and girls for a while, and I really enjoy every episode. David Thomas counts with a great professional experience as a psychology and counselor but also a father of boys. In Raising Emotional Strong Boys, David shares so many insights of what it is to raise strong, healthy, emotional boys. He helps us to understand the emotions that our boys go through. David shares tools of how we can help, teach, and mentor our boys throug all those emotions they may face. I love the fact that Thomas is also Christian and counselor with a healthy biblical view. I highly recommend it!!

Great resource to help any boy accell in life! I absolutely loved the Three R's. I think the back stories and tips in this book are something everyone should utilize when raising their own son(s)! I have a 7 year old who has gone through so many changes due to the current world issues and gained anxiety due to all of it. I think I will find myself going back to this book for reassurance and tips to help him through this journey in life. I believe this is a great tool to utilize for any parent!

This is a must-have resource for moms of boys. It is full of great strategies, advice, and easy to implement ideas. This is one I'll return to again and again. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.