A Survival Guide for America's Families - The O'Reilly Factor for Kids

My parents bought this book for my teenage son and he loves it. He says it's great because he can "skip around to the parts he needs". O'Reilly shares moments from his own life followed by bits of advice that young kids can read quickly. It's far from the cheesy "chicken soup" type self help. There's a great chapter about teachers in which O'Reilly points out that they are just people and some are good and some are not. He talks to kids with respect, and is never condescending. I wish I'd had it when I was young. And honestly, do you not like my review, or are you one of those people who hate Bill O'Reilly? If you are, you need to realize your immense hatred only fuels his popularity.

...this is traditional, socially conservative advice for young people from a traditional, socially conservative man. The difference is that Bill O'Reilly is a highly effective communicator, with a pithy style that cuts to the heart of the matter. Those who act shocked at this realization are being disengenuous. (They would probably adore a pithy, punchy book by Al Franken on the same topic.) Look at the table of contents - chapter titles are all one word, each on one topic, bunched together according to how they effect a child's life. Divorce, music, friends, money, God, bullies, school...these are the things that make kids tick. Not peace, not the environment, not fairness, not ethnocentrism, not the global village, as many adults fantasize. O'Reilly's advice is honest and sometimes blunt, but then that's what's going to get through to a busy, harried child, perhaps one who takes turns living with each parent while they fight out custody and one of them goes through bankruptcy. All but a few kids lead pretty tough lives, under seige from their peers and the media to be one thing and from (hopefully) their families and churches to be something else, and don't think they don't feel the squeeze. Add in often immature, ineffective parents, overburdened schools, uncaring and shackled courts and you have the makings for a kid's hell on earth. O'Reilly knows this and just wants to send up a flare for the kids unlucky enough not to get this advice first hand from their own parents, but lucky enough to maybe come across this book in the library or get it as a gift. I wish I had been able to read something like this as a young person - it would probably have saved me much wandering in the darkness.

And another thing: to the reviewer who doubts that a "moralistic" book could be appropriate for children, I ask: what would you prefer? Immoral? Amoral? Just because you aren't comfortable with the notions of moral right and wrong doesn't mean they go away at your bidding, or cease to be the prime movers for most of human history. Right and wrong, and their consequences, are the primary lessons you have to give to your children, and a moral rudder is the greatest tool a human being can have in this world.

I can't believe this guy actually still has living fans below the age of 60. No kid wants to hear biased opinions about life from some arrogant republican blowhard who constantly and blatantly lies on his show about... well, EVERYTHING! And you're simply an idiot if you believe anything he says. But don't believe me about him telling lies; there's excerpts of "facts" from his show all over the net being disproven. Not to mention that the statistics he spouts never come with any actual sources (and if they do, the sources are usually non-existent). So why the hell would I want him giving advice to my kids about how MTV rots your mind? MTV is merely just cashing in on a demographic of susceptible morons, which is something they have in common with Bill O'Reilly.

If you give this book to your kids, you're just perpetuating the flawed perspective of reality that most conservatives americans have. If it were up to people like Bill, people would have no freedom of expression and life would just be a series of praying, square dancing, and greedy dishonest politicians in control (and unfortunately, that's still the case in most parts of the country). That is a world I don't want my kids to grow up in, which is why I would consider this book as a form of child abuse.

The only reason I would ever watch his show is for its comedic value. It's time for natural selection to wipe conservatives and the likes of him off the face of the earth

I was given this by my grandparents for christmas, they being devoted O'reilly fans. I had watched the show a couple of times, and didn't particularly like it, but I didn't dislike it. However, this book was awful. He is patronizing, and clearly has no idea what real teens face. Unfortunately, many adult fans of his show will buy this book for their kid/grandkid, not realizing that this book sends the completely wrong message ("You can't deal with your problems yourself. You are weak."). If someone is looking for a book to help teens with real-life problems, this is not it. Not to mention that his writing is atrocious, and he uses awful IM acronyms in a feeble attempt to be hip.

On a side note, after reading this book, I decided to research O'Reilly, and there were some things that made me wonder how this guy is still on the air and writing.

Though I wasn't expecting much when I bought this book I was surprised when I opened it and the advice just leapt off the page and all over my face. What a warm pleasent surprise. Bill's chapters are particularly exgaging and they go into my mind intervenously. The vibrations of this book are so excellent, I could easily open up a copy and read it aloud to one of my female co-workers over the phone. Perfect for travel to exotic countries like Thailand.

This read is absolutly Spectacular. I highly recommend it, because we all need a little fantasy outlet, don't we?

Advice from someone with a total lack of self examination and a bad case of arrested developement. O'Reilly is still gritting his teeth over his lousy childhood and Factor for kids is full of bitter recriminations and paraniod rants about who to trust.

O'Reilly misses that he was and is a bully and the only advice is platitudinal at best.

I also don't trust his child rearing advice seeing as his kids aren't that old yet. (And yes sick of people telling me how to raise my kids.)

Factor for Kids lacks the armchair pyschology foder that O'Reilly's books usualy provide. Occassional stories about his childhood are the only thing that breaks up his hypocritical and out of touch cookie cutter advice.

Parents, before you think; I should buy this for my child for all the insight it will surely provide, read my review. If you do happen to buy the book , your money will be wasted.

1. Because your child won't read it and

2.This book doesn't teach anything we havent already heard.

This book reads like a corny tv special that annoys very bored Americans. Mr. O'Reilly's writtings could relate to a child, but only because of the low reading level.

Since I know that Bill meant well with the book, I will provide two stars, but perhaps thats saying too much. His attemp at using "slang" was disgusting along with the way he tried to make kids think he could relate to them(even if he can in some issues). He has vitually no experience in divore or ridicule, as many other CURRENT teens across the nation has, and shouldn't have bothered with this book anyway. Maybe a REAL teen should have wrote the book? But why a 50+ man grappling for new fans. Again, don't buy this one its a waste of money and time.

Ill admit it, I got tricked into buying this book.

I think this publication proves that Bill O'Reilly is not mentally well. He should be behind bars and not allowed to communicate with the public at all. I'm absolutely horrified by some of the views Bill advocates in this book.

"Kids- consider sharing this book with your parents - they'll understand you better." Oh really Reilly? If you read this book you'll know more about Bill and that is all. His "straight talk" is just his regurgitated opinion, based on his experiences and presented as doctrine. It's a mixed bag of conservative and liberal views and reads like a first draft of a high school creative writing assignment - written during lunch hour.

My mother in law purchased this book for her grandchildren (one copy) to take turns reading. We visited for Thanksgiving and she gave it to my 15 year old daughter to read. She read it in a day, staying up late because she couldn't put it down! I read some of the chapters and I I liked what I read. O'reilly didn't try to make himself look like a saint either, but he did learn from his mistakes, he just gives excellent advice to lead kids in the right direction.

ALSO:

I think people should stop using this platform for their nasty political views. There are many young people reading this.

If Mr. O'Reilly had not written this wonderful book, we would have had to insist he do it anyway. Kids needs examples. Too much wussiness in this country. We need people who can stand up and inflate themselves properly. It's one thing to have a strong backbone, but it's another to be so prehensile as to bend over and take it like a man. Makes me just beam while driving my auto, fella!

Superficial, smarmy, pandering to kids, self focused and a perfect recipe for the 'secular' society he criticizes. There is but one set of rules, O'Reilly's; with no rationale given, just the commandment or condemnation.

I had hoped to provide the book to my daughter to use as a conversation starter with her 13 year old son. Instead it's in the trashcan.

Sincerely,

s/ Martin Lively

I purchased two of "The O'Reilly Factor for Kids" for each of our two granddaughters age 11 and almost 13 years old. The first one to read the book was the 13 year old. She is continuing to read the book, but it opened her eyes and she said it made her look at things differently. It will help her through these trying teen years at school and life. I would recommend it to all pre-teens.

O'reilly's thoughts are what every parent would actually say. If your parents don't act similiar to this book then use the information the book illustrates to fix that. For those who controdict, please make and effort to evaluate yourself. "He sucks or I would rather save the money" at least explain yourself in full sentences. I recommend this book if you feel like supporting yourself and making something of your life.

My son's priorities are girls and skateboards and the very last book he will read is one that mom recommends. So after some grumbling & groaning and I admit - a little bit of bribery on my part just to get him started - he read the whole book and actually liked it. Since he read a little each night, I would in turn, read the same parts after him and the next night we discussed what we had read. Some topics we had really never even talked about before, and that in itself is well worth the video game rental I now owe him.

First, start with the cover: O'Reilly looks like a constipated leprechaun.

Then comes the content: alternavely pathetic and laughable. Bill really should be fitted for a straight jacket.

The End is really the best part of the book. By this time you've become familiar with Bill's perverse image of the world and you won't have to inflict any more masochistic behavior on yourself. O'Reilly is mean, spiteful and nuts.

I could present this book with a serous analysis, but even the fair and balance New York Times ignores O'Reilly books in their review section. Bill being this untimate pitchman should check the demographics for his show. It would demonstrate that the average age for the No Spin Show is over seventy years old. Which is why is his ratings are declining this past year, his viewer are dying of natural cause. I suggest his next book be titled "The O'Reilly Factor For Nursing Home Residents".

Wow! This book is great for kids today. Easy to understand and great to read to them and have them read back to you. It's a good book to have discussions about. Bill O'Reilly penned a winner on this book.

Why anyone would subject their children to the hateful, narrow minded views of this media bully is beyond me. Why does this man have even one fan? His "no spin zone" motto is the biggest lie on a 'news' network riddled with them. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

This book is great for your kids. The trial will take care of itself, and the mocking should eventually turn into apologies, but they won't. Just like Al Franken didn't. O'Reilly is the most honest, fair and balanced journalist at work today, and it is a must that your kids get to see him in action. They'll be better people for it. If America ever loses this guy, it will be a great loss.

I have just recently read this book for my seventh grade class reading. I watch Bill every night and I support him every step of the way. His book has true real life situations having to do with real life situations. For all of you that look down on O'reilly and President Bush, you can go... I think that both of the men are geniuses. I would recomend this book to anyone who is having trouble in school or who needs help with and everyday situation. Bill you did it again and God Bless our troops.

I hope all the store customers will buy this book and give it to their kids to read. There is a lot of good information in it that kids need to know. Bill is a patriot and your children will be patriots when they read this book. Also by buying this book it will send a message to the liberals like John kerry that you can't just go around spreading lies about good Christians and expect to get some kind of a gain out of it. The people who are making up all these lies would have been smart to read this book first because in this book O'Reilly says that for one thing he is a Christian and for another thing he quit drinking a long time ago. If the people making up these lies would have read the book they would have realized that the sex accusations are untrue because Bill is a Christian. Also the accusations that Bill gets drunk a lot are clearly untrue because as Bill says in the book HE QUIT DRINKING A LONG TIME AGO! I mean when Bill goes to trial all he has to do is show the court this book and the trial will be over! I can't believe how stupid the liberals are sometimes.

ok, so i have this friend whose extreme right, conservative, sob Aunt gave her this in hope of trying to make her more of a jerk (A.K.A. becoming conservative). so when i went to her house, she made me read it. I brought it back in hopes of getting her permission to burn it. THE BOOK IS AWFUL. Ok, first of all, he tries to be cool, which automatically makes him NOT COOL. Ok, ok.. so I'm one of the few liberals in Texas, but come on! How can someone so narrow minded write a childrens book? Is he that much of a jerk whereas he wants little kids to look up to him and say "Hey i want to be a total jerk and so inconsiderate of other countries JUST LIKE BILL!"...In short, if you want your kid to be a total duesche bag and have everyone hate him or her, GO AHEAD AND BUY THE DUMBEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ..PS... i read a ton of books. i know a good book when i read one.

After all, he has the mental capacity of a child! It's not surprising to see him write a book geared towards sixth graders because apparently, that's the same grade level of logic that he utilizes on his tv show.

I'm not sure why this book was made. O'Reilly has a heavy-handed writing style and this certainly won't translate well to a book geared towards youngsters. The book is a summary of his beliefs which have been elucidated at length to adults.

Rather than try to poison a youngster's mind with rigid political beliefs, people like Bill O'Reilly should let youngsters enjoy their youth before they reach adulthood and have to deal with O'Reilly's ilk.

SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE COMPLAINED THAT THIS BOOK IS ONLY TO SWAY KIDS TO THE REPUBLICAN VIEWPOINT. NO MENTION IS MADE OF THE KIDS BEING SWAYED TO THE LIBERAL POINT OF VIEW EVERY SINGLE DAY IN THEIR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, ALL THE WAY THROUGH COLLEGE. THANKS TO BILL O'REILLY FOR COUNTERING THAT! I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE AS I HAVE 4 CHILDREN AND HAVE VOLUNTEERED AND SPENT YEARS IN SUCH SCHOOLS. ONE DAUGHTER WAS GIVEN A TEST THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO DETERMINE WHETHER SHE WAS REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT AT WHICH TIME SHE ANNOUNCED THAT SHE WAS DEFINATELY A DEMOCRAT. I'D LIKE TO HAVE SEEN THOSE QUESTIONS!

Hmm...I see the left-wing blog master has ordered his subjects to flood this site with bad reviews, and like the mindless robots they are, they have obeyed. Is this the best you can do? Can you do anything CONSTRUCTIVE? Why don't you use your stupendously brilliant writing talents to write your own book? Enjoy the Kool-aid, you pathetic little pinheads.

P.S. You could try actually reading this book--you might like it.

the store truly did you all a favor by mercifully offering you an excerpt of ten whole pages of Mr. O'Reilly's book. This was a luxury I was not given, and now I can't help but feel it's too late for my poor soul. I stomached the whole enchilada, and I warn you this is one Mexican (or wet-back, as Mr. O'Reilly ocassionally refers to people of Mexican origin) dish you do NOT wish to tackle. The first ten pages alone tell you exactly what kind of person Bill O'Reilly is. It is obvious that this iteration of this children's edition of his wildly asinine "The O'Reilly Factor" is just another attempt to gouge his enamored viewers for more money. This book offers no real advice that cannot be already garnored by the occasional disney channel blurb or the elusive "common sense." It takes him two precious pages to explain to his obviously mentally ill readers that "real friends" are not anything like those on the show "Friends." Being a fan of the show I have to agree with O'Reilly, but then I'd be forced to ask "What the hell Bill?!" He recently settled a lawsuit pressed against him for a rumored $10 million by a Ms. Mackris for sexual harassment. He attempts to teach our children about sex, but is himself a barely disguised chauvenist and borderline deviant. His previous "The O'Reilly Factor" has it's own section on sex. Here he shows just how little respect for woman and boastfully describes many of his "sexual conquests." In his fiction novel "Those Who Tresspass" he self inserts himself as an irresistable and dangerous womanizer. Feel free to use the main character in this novel as a personality guide for O'Reilly himself. He is desperately and consistently seeking admiration from his audience. It's both sad and sickening. He barely alludes to his "rambunctious" childhood misadventures with his friends, trying to pass by his readers what he "learned" from those experiences. However, both his massively (depressingly) popular cable "news" show and his series of near toxic books reveal a man borderline insane. He's rediculously angry at the most obnoxiously inane things, a chronic liar, and has the memory span of an 80 year old hamster with alzheimers. He will literally make points in this book and provide evidence that counters his own argument. His show is no different. He will make wildly offensive comments. When his callers call him up on it, he has his chronies "replay the tape." Of course, in the year 2006 we are completely unable to actually replay this tape on modern television for viewers, as you can see when his chronies shout back off camera a completely different statement. He has never apologized for his actions, only grunting with simian aggression and angrily moving on to the next segment. This man cannot hold multiple marriages, yet he attempts to teach children about relationships. Mr. O'Reilley is to televised journalism what pornography is professional photography. Any person who truly consider themselves a conservative should be horrified by how he represents the demographic. A recent example is of a jewish man who called into his show to make his case that having Christmas during school as he grew up made him feel uncomfortable because he felt constantly pressured to be more Christian. O'Reilly responded by telling the man that if he didn't want to live in a Christian nation he should move to Israel. Any truly religious person whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Buddhist should find a comment like this wildly offensive. Well, perhaps the Buddhists will let that one go. In a country where religious freedom is one of it's main tenets, perhaps O'Reilly would be advised to know that a marginal amount of secularism in public and government institution is necessary for religious freedom. The founding fathers considered religion a largely personal matter, as did Jesus. "Render unto Caesar's what is Caesar's."

But I digress. As several reviewers before me have already stated, their is no real advice to be taken from these pages. It is a shameless attempt to slip into his fans' pocketbooks. Please do not support Bill O'Reilly. He is a hack journalist. He does not cite sources, and he both dilberately and unknowingly misinterprets data graphs. His debates are nothing more than one sided scream fests where the slightest hint of losing is barbarically avoided by screaming to his producers: "CUT THE MIC!" He is just one more piece of evidence that the FOX News Channel can take any angry, opinionated moron and turn them into a popular "media icon." This man is literally a danger to our country. Please do not endanger your children as well. The chances of accidental death are marginally better bringing a handgun into the home than "The O'Reilly Factor for Kids." He lowers political commentary to the standards of Jerry Springer. He may be loud and entertaining, but he is also manipulative and not very good at hiding it. Please Factor fans, attempt to see what a horrible man he really is when you ignore this review and read through these demonic pages. Consider this a review for each of his nonfiction books, as I have read them all and each is written in progressively poorer quality.

Anyone who buys this book to help them teach their children needs a therapist. O'Reilly knows nothing and just lists off his views of a moral America. The book has no information that the common man doesnt know.

This turgid volume of supposed straight arrow advice serves one useful purpose: as a perfect illustration of the Right's customary attitude of "Do as I say, not as I do". For people like Bill O'Reilly, the things THEY do wrong are ok because they are Republicans. When Democrats do the same thing, it's a different story.

O'Reilly's parents' generation saluted the flag, kept their noses clean, worked hard and went off obediently when Uncle Sam called. That all made sense then. Bill in this book evokes that simpler, straighter time in his admonitions to the young. Problem is, he talks the talk and doesn't walk the walk. So who can have any respect for him?

While reading this, I found myself wondering -- is this how the North Koreans teach their children to hate Americans? Do they have their children read political propaganda at an early age to indoctrinate them into a particular ideology?

That's what this book is -- a well disguised indoctrination into the Republican party/Conservative movement.

If you want to raise children who think for themselves, steer clear of political propagandists.

Factor for kids misses the mark completely.

As someone who watches a lot of Bill O'Reilly, I can't say how much I was surprised by this book. What was he thinking? The factor is a political show for adults. Trying to do a tie in book for kids based on the factor is the dumbest thing ever! Didn't he consult with anybody? O'Reilly is a great success and should have had enough connections to pull this off, or at least be warned off of trying this disappointing idea.

Trying to slog through this book was just painful. It is like advice from grandpa trying to be hip. I really can't imagine any kids being so into Bill O'Reilly that they would want to try and drag themselves through this dry read. It has no real insights and is really an idea who's time has not come.

Future generations, savvy enough to know better, and with the benefit of hindsight will see this book for what it is: A testament to the vile and repugnant FOX News and it's extendend network of miscreants - and hopefelly, we'll all have a good laugh about it.

Because, really, what else is there to do but laugh?... I mean, The Factor for kids? Flummoxing beyond words.