Some of my favorite picture books this past year feature dads. I love books promoting positive family relationships, but particularly a father-child relationship. In fact, my daughter’s favorite picture book of 2019 is included in this post (keep reading to find out which one)! I know not everyone has a dad to celebrate, but we certainly want to honor and celebrate all the great dads who are making an impact, each and every day, on our future generation! I have even included a couple wonderful books to celebrate our grandpas too.
Check these books out at your local library, a local bookstore, or use the affiliate links in this post.
A Father’s Love by Hannah Holt and illustrated by Yee Von Chan
Although I featured A Father’s Love with my books about love recommendations here, this one absolutely MUST be included in books about dads. Seriously, this book gives me all the feels. Featuring how fathers care for their babies throughout the animal kingdom and ending with human fathers caring for their littles, this book is so touching. This book definitely demonstrates how a father’s love comes in all shapes and sizes!
Teaching tip: This book would be great for comparing and contrasting animal behaviors or when learning about animal habitats.
A Hug is for Holding Me by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Lisk Feng
“Look around and you will see all the things a hug can be!”
Written from the perspective of a young daughter, she makes comparisons between those found in nature to the comfort, safety, and reassurance a loving hug from her dad provides.
Teaching tip: The teacher in me also loves the use of similes, as this book would make a great readers workshop read-aloud for launching that topic!
Good Dad, Diego by Brenna Maloney
If you want to show appreciation to dad for the many hats he wears around the house, this is a humorous way to show some love! Yes, Diego is a dog, but he’s a dad who is a hard-worker, a complete “Jack-of-all-trades”. This is a fun and humorous way to honor the hard-working father in your life!
Hair Love by Matthew A Cherry and illustrated by Vashti Harrison
Based on the Academy Award-winning short film of the same name, Hair Love is such a heart-warming portrayal of the efforts a daddy goes through to help his daughter find the perfect hairstyle. I love this book for so many reasons, but it connects so personally for me. Just after my baby girl turned one, I started working at our church as the children’s ministries director. For the next four years my husband did her hair every Sunday morning for church. Honestly, it was such a sacrifice for me because I LOVED doing her hair. My husband learned several different styles and he particularly developed a special bond with her and her hair bows, which is probably why she ended up with one in just about every color and style.
Teaching tip: Use this story as a compare and contrast exercise – watch the animated short film Hair Love after reading the book. Discuss which you liked better and why.
Daddy-Sitting by Eve Coy
A little girl spends the day “daddy-sitting” – which really just shows the many activities they do together throughout the day. From the humorous perspective of the little girl, this story lovingly shows a daddy’s love for his daughter. One of the aspects that I love most about this book is, contrary to the title, it also showcases dad an active caregiver in his daughter’s life.
Teaching tip: Use this story as inspiration to write about (or discuss) what activity you would do with dad.
Where is Home Daddy Bear? by Nicola O’Byrne
“Home is people who love you.”
Evie, a little bear, is struggling with all the changes that come with moving to a new place. Throughout the entire process, her daddy is there reassuring her and offering her comfort. At first glance, this book is about the simple reassurance between a father and a child. It can be a beautiful, simple story about love, but it can also be so much more. When you take a closer look at the illustrations, you notice the photo they keep of mama bear. Mama bear is only included in the storyline through a photograph, one that reappears lovingly and a photo they put next to their bed in their new home, as they read bedtime stories and snuggle.
Teaching tip: This book could be used as a read-aloud when teaching inferencing.
Dandy by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Charles Dantoso
Raise your hand if the dad in your life loves to maintain a pristine lawn. This humorous story begins when Daddy spies a dandelion on the lawn. Just as he is about to remove the weed from his treasured lawn, Sweetie (his daughter) is delighted by the new flower … and even gives “her” (the dandelion) the name Charlotte. As the story progresses, Daddy changes from trying to sneak and remove “Charlotte” to frantically attempting to save her. This sweet tale demonstrates the lengths a daddy will go to when attempting to mend the heart of his daughter – which sometimes includes major personal sacrifices. By the way, this was my daughter’s FAVORITE picture book this last year … and she turns 15 next week. She also convinced me last fall that I had to read it aloud to our university’s Lab Kindergarten and it was certainly a hit with five and six-year-olds too!
My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero and illustrated by Zeke Peña
Written as a young girl’s love story to her hardworking dad, this story follows Daisy Ramona and her Papi as they zoom through their community, spending a day enjoying life together. Written with the theme that home is found with those you love, no matter what changes may come – this story showcases finding joy in the everyday … something that is obviously near and dear to my heart. Reading this story reminded me of some of the wonderful everyday moments in life. Such as the memory of my husband and kids running through the yard with a big blue tarp flowing behind them like a giant super-hero cape. One of my favorite memories!
I also love that there is both an English and Spanish version! You can find the Spanish version here.
Teaching Tip: This book is so important for providing windows into another culture and mirrors for children with a similar background. One of my university students shared in class such a beautiful personal connection to this book that it left me in tears. Kids may use this book as a mentor text to write about a time when they found joy in an everyday moment.
Drawn Together by Minh Lê and illustrated by Dan Santat
Sometimes the generational gap between a child and a grandparent seems as wide as the ocean. In this nearly wordless picture book, a young boy and his grandfather are originally portrayed as having nothing in common. They like different foods, they watch different shows on TV, and they even prefer to speak different languages. But when the young boy brings out his markers and paper, grandpa pulls out his ink and sketchbook. Suddenly, they realize a common interest and the pages come alive with their two artistic styles, intersecting and merging to create common ground. I love that this book so simply, but beautifully, portrays the gift of finding common interests.
Teaching Tip: Have your kids or students help contribute questions that could be used as a questionnaire to get to know a grandparent better. Then compile the list and have them interview a grandparent (grandparents LOVE Facetime and Zoom calls – especially during quarantine). Have your child/student fill out the questionnaire with her own answers and compare the results.
Around the Table That Grandad Built by Melanie Heuiser Hill and illustrated by Jaime Kim
In this cumulative tale, the story progresses to show all the ways that a family gathers around the table that Grandad built. This book is wonderful for many reasons. I love that it honors the handiwork of grandad and showcases diversity in both foods and faces. I found this book so retable for our family, as we know the gift of having a grandfather who is a skilled craftsman. We also have diversity in skin tones within our family though the gift of adoption, and I loved that those who gathered around the table could be interpreted as either family and friends laughing. loving, and sharing a meal together.
Teaching tip: There are so many ways you could incorporate this into the classroom, but the obvious connection would be the inclusion of this story when teaching cumulative tales, such as There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly (and many others). This book could also serve as a great mentor text for writing.
All reviews are completely my own and I only recommend books I truly believe are worthy of sharing with others. (Believe me, I read many books I do not recommend, which means you won’t see me writing about them!)
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