This week-end is Father’s Day, a great time to share some picture books about dads or books with dads in them. Here are some that I especially enjoyed.
SAY DADDY! by Michael Shoulders, illustrated by Teri Weidner, Sleeping Bear Press 2008.
This book begins with the day that Baby Bear was born. Mother and Daddy, brother, Aunt Grace, Uncle Roy, and Grandma all welcome Baby Bear into the world, and read books to him. Each one hopes their name will be the first word that Baby Bear says. His first word is a surprise to everyone, but Daddy doesn’t give up on teaching Baby to say his name. A very sweet book about babies, family and the power of books in a young child’s life.
BERTIE: JUST LIKE DADDY by Marcus Pfister, NorthSouth Publishing 2009.
Bertie wants to do everything just like Daddy. “When you’re older,” Daddy tells him. This is a fun book with Bertie and Daddy interacting in each scene. Even though Bertie can’t do the things that Daddy does, there is always a good alternative. And in the end Bertie has the right answer when Daddy is the one who wants to be just like Bertie. I picked up another ‘Bertie’ book featuring him and his dad, and found it to be just as much fun.
DADDY ALL DAY LONG by Francesca Rusackas, illustrated by Priscilla Burris, HarperCollins Publishers 2004.
In this book Owen and his Dad keep trying to one-up each other in how many ways they love each other. This counting book shows every-day ways that kids and dads show their love—“…more than six monster tickles!...more than seven scoops of ooey-gooey chocolate caramel ice cream!” and so on.
PIGGY AND DAD GO FISHING by David Martin, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz, Candlewick Press 2005.
Piggy is excited about his very first fishing trip with Dad, but there are things about fishing that Piggy is not fond of. In the end of the book Piggy invents his own way of fishing. It’s a compromise between Dad’s way and Piggy’s way, and shows fun times with father and son.
A LION AT BEDTIME by Debi Gliori, Barron’s Educational Series 1994.
Dad doesn’t show a huge presence in this book, but Ben knows he can count on him when he needs him. When Ben sees a lion in his bedroom at night, his father “bumped about in the dark, banging doors and saying, ‘Listen lion. Back to the jungle. Scat, big cat!’” In the end, Ben solves the problem on his own.
HUNTING THE DADDYOSAURUS by Teresa Bateman, illustrated by Benrei Huang, Albert Whitman & Company 2002.
The rhyming text in this book is such fun, and is easy to read. Brother and Sister dinosaurs follow clues to find ‘the marvelous Daddyosaurus,’ chanting along the way “Hunka-cha, hunka-cha, rooba.”
DADDIES DO IT DIFFERENT by Alan Lawrence Sitomer, illustrated by Abby Carter, Disney-Hyperion Books 2012.
In this book, Daddy doesn’t do anything like Mommy does. At breakfast he makes forts out of waffles and when bathtime is over, Daddy is just as wet as his daughter. But in the end, she knows that Mommy and Daddy both love her exactly the same. A fun book that gives a different spin on everyday things, depending on who is doing them.
GRANDDAD’S FISHING BUDDY by Mary Quigley, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch, Dial Books for Young Readers 2007.
I just couldn’t leave out the Granddads out! In this book when Sara stays with Grandma and Granddad, she discovers Granddad up and about “…while the sky was still blue-black and the stars shone like night-lights.” She tags along when he goes out to meet his fishing buddy. The beautiful language makes you feel that you are in that quiet early morning with Sara and Granddad, out on the lake, waiting for his fishing buddy to show up. Sarah learns about fishing, what quiet means, and about spending time with Granddad, ‘the best catch of all.’
This is only a small taste of all the picture books out there that feature dads. When I looked on our local library branch website, I found 128 titles with the word ‘daddy’ in the title!
Wishing all the dads out there a wonderful Father’s Day! May you be blessed with time to spend with your children, eat well, and have time to relax at the end of the day.