It’s Great Being a Dad
Author: Dan Bar-el
Illustrator: Gina Perry
Publisher: Tundra Books
Ages 3-8
In a picturebook market that is usually devoid of books that highlight a father’s contribution to a child’s development, It’s Great Being a Dad is one of those rare jewels that, without any great hurrah, features that fathers can be nurturing figures.
Watch how a typical Dad handles a unicorn, a robot, a fairy queen ballerina doctor, bigfoot, and a flying alligator pirate, all within the span of a few minutes, while they converge in a contained space. This is the stuff dreams, nightmares, and pure imagination is made of.
Typically, we would see a mom or grandmother handling the presented problems. What makes this book unique is not that the problems are being handled. It’s not even that an adult is handling the problems (although books are trending in the way television programs are trending, unfortunately, wherein adults are becoming less and less competent). This book is special because the adult figure is a competent Dad.
Not convinced? Without using Google and in less than 5 minutes, I challenge you to list 10 children’s picturebooks wherein the central adult figure is a competent paternal figure. Write your answer in the comments below. As a comparison, now do the same exercise and list 5 children’s picturebooks wherein the central adult figure is a competent maternal figure. Which exercise was easier?
I rest my case.
It’s Great Being a Dad (Amazon)*
It’s Great Being a Dad (Support an Independent Bookstore)*
My thanks to Tundra Books for providing a Review Copy of this book. All opinions provided herein are my own.
More books for this Age Group can be found here and here.
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