Celebrating Dads
To begin a book from a father. Graffeg Press has published Through the Eyes of Me by Jon Roberts, a debut picture book from a parents viewpoint about living with a child with autism. Jon’s 4 year old daughter has severe autism and this book will help other children understand the condition. Learn about how Jon’s daughter needs to run around, how she communicated and some of the quirks of her condition. Told with passion and love this is a touching and important story that will help readers understand and perhaps even identify.
The Dressing Up Dad by Maudie Smith with illustration by Paul Howard (Oxford Children’s Books) is the tale of a father and son who love to share the joy of dressing up. At a party, for a trip to the supermarket, whatever the occasion they will dress up and enjoy themselves, more importantly they will enjoy being themselves! A joyous story celebrating the fun that dad’s and their children can have together and how important it is to remember not to be embarrassed to be yourself come what may!
Little Monster’s Day Out With Dad by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart, illustrated by Nick Sharratt (Egmont), is the second title in a delightful, interactive, pop-up, pre-school series. In this title we join Little Monster and his dad on a day out, a big day out at the fair but when the car breaks down what will happen, is there anything in the toolbox to help? Lift the flaps, follow the story, travel in lots of different vehicles and enjoy the adventures of Little Monster and his Dad with your own little ones (monsters or not).
The wonderful Shirley Hughes is another great choice for father’s this year. In Alfie and Dad (Bodley Head) we celebrate the special relationship between Alfie and his dad in a series of heart-warming short stories. We learn how dad is always there for Alfie (and his sister Annie Rose too), when Alfie cannot sleep dad is there. When Alfie leaves his favourite toy on the bus dad goes to the rescue and when the children have questions dad is there. Many adults will have grown up with Shirley Hughes and her Alfie stories so what better way to revisit them then sharing them with your own children this father’s day and beyond, particularly in Shirley’s 90th year and as she celebrates 40 years of Dogger too.
Children have many ways of addressing their parents and it made me smile to see Dada printed bold and loud on the front cover of Jimmy Fallon’s new picture book. Will your baby’s first word be Dada? Father’s, if you want to engineer the first word uttered by your little one to be the one addressed to you and you alone then this is the book for you! Illustrated with warmth, depth and great humour (just look at the expressions on the faces of the characters) by Miguel Ordonez this book is an absolute delight. Simple, clever, funny. Dada is published by Hodder Children’s Books.
Just Like Daddy by Lucy Freegard (Pavilion Books) shows us just how much our children want to be like their father’s. Well, so we like to think. There are of course other things to be but being just like daddy means being strong, brave and maybe a little bit silly. The problem is that daddy doesn’t always want the little ones to grow, after all there are too many things to miss, so of course it is important to remember that no matter how old you are there is always a place to be young and no matter how young you are there is always someone to look up to and admire. A delightful book of love, awe and family fun.
A couple from Walker Books now … Little Wolf’s First Howlong by Laura McGee Kvasnosky and Kate Harvey McGee is a picture books for older readers with slightly more text than usual. This is a book to share with your children and enjoy as you learn about a father and son preparing for the very first howl but be prepared for a quite wonderful surprise for all is not as it seems. A delightful father and son story to share at any time and any age. In addition for older children, and again a book to share, a selection of short stories not only about sons and fathers but grandfathers too. Seven different boys, seven different stories, all honest, all searching and all asking what can a father do for his son. The Most Important Thing is a collection to dip in to for many different reasons.
Daddy Long Legs by Nadine Brun-Cosme and Aurélie Guillerey (Two Hoots) helps little children understand that no matter if all else fails then daddy will be there for them, there really is no need to worry. With some great adventures to explore this book is lovely for sharing and reassuring children.
Me and My Dad by Robin Shaw (Hodder Children’s Books) gives both children and adults a visual feast of delight to enjoy at ay time of year, with sparse words and detailed illustration there is plenty of opportunity for new stories to be made from each reading of this book.
And we round up this selection of titles with two from Otter-Barry Books, a poetry title that would suit both home and school The Dictionary of Dads by Justin Coe, illustrated by Steve Wells, explores more than 50 different types of dads and many important themes. My Daddy is a Silly Monkey by Dianne Hofmeyer, illustrated by Carol Thompson is an exuberant story about dad’s who are single parents and what it is like, from the child’s perspective, to grow up with them. Warm-hearted and very funny this is a vibrant, caring and sharing title.
