From tender to funny, dads and grandads can provide their
children and grandchildren with the support and nurture that is so important in
the family setting as well as in the wider world. Choose some of these grand
books to share as only one of many ways to honor these family members you care
about.
My Father’s Hands
by Joanne Ryder
illustrated by Mark Graham
A blonde
child and her dad share nature’s wonders in their garden, delicately examining
a pink worm, a gold beetle, a sliding snail, and a leaf-green praying mantis.
Full color oil paintings in soft-focus create a Monet-type setting, with lushly
flowering plants in the background. Graham uses pastel coloring to enhance
intimate close-ups of both daughter’s and father’s hands and faces.
The story is
in the memory, with evidence of gentle touching in the melding of text and
illustrations throughout. The restrained investigations established by the
father, are imitated by the child. The daughter knows “nothing within my
father’s hands will harm me.”
This tender
picture book demonstrates mindful attention in the natural world. By example,
readers will want to look for similar opportunities to care for and sustain our
earth and its occupants.
Morrow, $17.99
Interest Level: Junior
Kindergarten – Grade 2
Alma and How She Got
Her Name
by Juana Martinez-Neal
Alma Sofia
Esperanza Jose Pura Candela has a “too long” name, she tells her Daddy, “It
never fits.” He responds by telling stories about the family members she’s been
named after: a grandmother who is a book lover, an artist grandfather, and a
deeply spiritual great-aunt, among others.
The
pictures, by award winning illustrator Martinez-Neal, use print transfers with
graphite and colored pencils to complement the text. She crafts her delightful
illustrations in grays and blacks with touches of color that help to define
both Alma herself, and the ancestors whose names she shares.
Alma’s
candy stripe pants pop against sepia tones which suggest old family photos.
Affectionately curved shapes connect the individual family members to the
rounded images of Alma herself. Adults who share this lively story book will
want to be prepared for conversations with young children about their own
names.
This charming tale ends with her
daddy’s explanation that Alma is “the first and only Alma.” And she will make
her own story. Her name “fits me just right!” says Alma, “and I have a story to
tell.”
Candlewick Press,
$15.99
Interest Level:
Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 2
Grandpa Toad’s
Secrets
by Keiko Kasza
During their walk in the forest,
Grandpa Toad cautions his grandson, “Our world is full of hungry enemies.” As
he begins to tell Little Toad his survival secrets - the first is to, “Be
brave” when you meet danger - a snake shows up. Little Toad runs away. Not
Grandpa, whose bravery sends the snake on his way.
Grandpa’s
second secret, “Be smart!” works when a hungry snapping turtle arrives for a
snack. Little Toad takes off again. But Grandpa whispers a tip to the turtle.
However, before Grandpa can tell his third secret, a monster - so “humongous”
that he only fits on the double page spread sideways – appears, and both Little
Toad and Grandpa run.
Except --- Grandpa is caught by the
monster! Little Toad hides in the bushes, shaking with fear as Grandpa is
becoming a toad sandwich. Still, as he thinks about the two secrets he’s just
learned, and sees berries nearby, Little Toad decides on a plan to trick the
monster, rescuing his grandfather!
Repeated phrases, expressive animal
characters, plus plenty of white space around the comical watercolor
illustrations surprisingly supply emotional distance, reducing the “scare” for
young children. A clever tale, told in spare but jaunty language, this a winner
for adult readers as well as their listeners.
Candlewick Press,
$15.99
Interest Level:
Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 2
More Terrific Tales:
Things to do with Dad
by Sam Zuppardi
Candlewick Press,
$16.99
Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten
– Grade 2
With Dad, It’s Like
That
by Nadine Brun-Cosme
Illustrated by Magali Le Huche
Albert Whitman, $16.99
Interest Level:
Pre-Kindergarten – Grade1
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