Father's Day

It's been awhile since I posted anything on here, but honestly? I thought I had run out of the themes I normally do! And shame on me! Why not be creative and try to cover other themes and ideas that I *don't* do?

 

I was inspired today because Father's Day is coming up and because this book came across my desk this morning:

 

 

Because I'm Your Dad by Ahmet Zappa. It is J'ADORABLE! (Thank you Jonathan Adler for adding that word to my vocabulary.) Nevermind that it was created by two people I absolutely love. Does anyone remember the show Ahmet Zappa hosted on MTV back in the 90s? webRIOT? He was such an oddball, and I fell in love with him then. And of course this post talks about Dan Santat and my other favorite authors and illustrators, so if you want to see me gush about him, you can read it there. BUT - even if it didn't have anything to do with those two, it would still be a cute book. The text (especially the end) gets me all verklempt.

 

 

One that follows the same theme (of all the things a father would to for a child), but is a bit more fantastical is:

 

 

Because I am Your Daddy by Sherry North. The first one covers all the everyday things a dad does for his child. This one is all the things a father would do for a child if he had a certain profession. Then it gets into the ridiculous of "If we were Martians... If I was a wizard...". Ultimately, the ending is similar - it's all about a father's love.

 

This next one we added last year when the summer theme was "Every Hero Has a Story":

 

 

Hero Dad by Melinda Hardin. This is told from the point of view of a child comparing his dad (who is in the military) to a superhero. It was *perfect* for the theme, and it's a great book to read about fathers.

 

 

The Fathers Are Coming Home by Margaret Wise Brown. This shows different fathers in the animal kingdom coming home to their children. The final one is a human father, a sailor, coming home to his kid.

 

My Dad Thinks He's Funny by Katrina Germein. This is basically a book full of dad jokes. It's really corny, but reading it to groups of kids is fun because you'll hear "Hey, my dad says that!". If you're a dad reading it with your child, you'll probably see a lot of yourself in the book.

 

 

These are obviously all newer books. I'm sure there are a number of older ones that are just as good. Please comment and let me know your favorite father/daddy book that I may have forgotten!