It is obvious when a dad does a kid's hair -- it has uneven parts and mismatched accessories. One dad has come up with a solution for dads who are hair-challenged.

Bruce Sallan: Craig Lawrey's book, "Does Your Daughter Have DADHAIR? A Step-by-Step Guide for Dads," teaches dads how to manage their daughter's hair. Using color photographs, hints, tips, and psychology of the father-daughter bond, he humorously makes light of and helps abolish DadHair, which he defines as:

dadhair (dad-hār) n. A style in which hair is arranged so that it is obvious that an unskilled stylist (namely the male paternal figure) is responsible. Syn. DISASTER, TRAGEDY.

I interviewed Craig -- and we had the following exchange:

Bruce Sallan: So what inspired you to want to learn how to manage your daughter's hair?

Craig Lawrey: My total inability to do so, really. I would see my daughter's friends with nice hairstyles, and my daughter looked like a cave-child. I think the true spark happened when a mom pointed out that fact.

BS: What did she say?

CL: It was a matter-of-fact put-down that felt, frankly, horribly sexist even if it was true. From that day on, I was going to learn to have my daughter's hair look better than her daughter's hair. 

BS: I see you took the mature approach. Where did you come up with the term "DadHair"?

CL: I just gave it a name! Ask most moms and they'll have a similar name for it.

BS: So why this book?

CL: As I actually became somewhat proficient, the requests from other fumbling dads and amazement from moms (that a dad could actually do such a thing) got me thinking: Maybe I should help more people other than my brother and some buddies?

BS: What makes your book special?

CL: It's a book written by a real dad for real dads. When questioning moms for ideas, I was lost, as their terminology was so foreign to me. I put in the book what dads will actually be able to handle, man to man, as if I'm talking to a friend.

Craig's book is really a simple step-by-step introduction, for either dad or mom. It's sort of like a juggling book, except learning to juggle is a lot easier, I suspect. It's fun, genuinely helpful, and will make a great Christmas/Father's Day gift for most daughters to give their dads. At the Orange County Children's Book Festival on Oct. 4, "DadHair" will make its first public showing and will be available for purchase. If you can't make it to the festival, you may purchase it at DadHair.com beginning October 5.

Bruce Sallan gave up his showbiz career a decade ago to raise his two boys, full-time, now 13 and 16. His internationally syndicated column, A DAD'S POINT-OF-VIEW, is his take on the challenges of parenthood and male/female issues, both as a single dad and now, newly remarried, in a blended family. Join Bruce's A DAD'S POINT-OF-VIEW fan page at Facebook. To contact Bruce, visit his new website brucesallan.com.