Bookworm Review: Books for Father’s Day

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Your Dad is the best.

He gives great hugs, first of all. He teaches you things, fixes what’s broken, and he likes to play with you sometimes. Dad works hard, he’s really smart, and he picks great books to read before your bedtime, books like these …

Who doesn’t like to go camping with Dad? In the new book, “You Make the World” by Múon Thi Văn, illustrated by Phùng Nguyȇn Quang & Huynh Kim Liên (Orchard Books, $18.99), a young child goes out in nature with their father, and learns a few things about what makes the world go ‘round – at least, in Dad’s eyes. It’s a book that sings with joy and love; but it will also help your child understand that emotions actually mean something. Just don’t be surprised if this sweet little story makes Dad tear up a bit because it’s that kind of book. “You Make the World” is perfect for bedtime, and it’s great for kids ages three-to-seven.

Another book full of love is “Love, Dad: Inspiring Notes from Fathers to Kids” by Dr. Joel Warsh and Andrew Gardner, illustrated by David Elmo Cooper (Random House, $14.99). Here, authors Warsh and Gardner asked “lots of dads” what they wished their kids knew, and what they “hoped to teach their kids.” It starts with the words, “When you grow up, I hope you …” and the rest of the sentences are warm, loving, funny, inspiring, empowering, and good for kids of any age. Read this book now to your five-to-seven-year-old, then make it a tradition by reading it every year for the next five or ten years.

And finally, if you’re looking for something your Dad might love to read, or if you’re a father yourself, consider “Fatherhood: A History of Love and Power” by Augustine Sedgewick (Scribner, $30).

“By any measure, fatherhood is one of the most meaningful concepts in human culture,” the author says, but it can also be filled with aspects that today’s society might find oppressive, to one degree or another. For example, the idea that men must provide for and protect partners and offspring has been around a long time – though it’s changed and adapted with modern attitudes, feminism, and other forces. You’ll see it through Sedgewick’s portraits of influential, powerful men throughout history, men who happened to be fathers.

This is a thoughtful, aha! kind of book for the dad who wants to read something different, for an older teen who’d like a history of an unusual sort, or for Mom, who wants a peek into the other side of parenting.

Of course, there’s more to being a Dad than biology, and there are more books on the subject at your favorite bookstore or library. To find them, you just need to step inside and ask for books on being a Dad, being a child with a Daddy, or getting to know the man who was your father. Indeed, your librarian or bookseller can help you find the Father’s Day books that are the best.