The idea is a good one. There’s room in the market for a book on activities for fathers and sons. But Chicago-based journalist Ed Avis’s book (with its same-size companion journal costing $15.95) fails on many counts.

Come on Dad! is not user-friendly. The topics cover a wide range of areas, but the activities are not logically grouped or organized in any manner. None of the activities are innovative or very creative. The activities suggested for a rainy day, for example, are going outside and splashing in puddles or staying inside and slurping soup and reading. Dads won’t need a book to give them ideas as obvious as this. Some classic activities that are included, such as pressing leaves and making cornstarch goop, could have been assets, but readers will have a tough time making sense of the muddled instructions. Most activities are described as being “a snap” to perform, but the instructions are amazingly vague. Furthermore, nutrition-conscious parents may be surprised at the many references to “junk food.”

Though the text is geared for dads, the black-and-white spot illustrations by Geneviève Després add visual interest but seem more suitable for children. Including a number of precise, instructional graphics would have aided fathers, especially with the more complicated science activities. The illustration on the cover shows a boy who barely reaches his father’s waist. This implies that the book is for use with preschoolers. In fact, most activities target six- to 11-year-olds, with adaptations for older or younger boys at the end of many activities.