The acclaimed Lesléa Newman, author of Heather Has Two Mommies and more than 80 other books, has teamed up with award-winning illustrator AG Ford to give us a sweet, rhyming book about the relationships between sons and dads, with an emphasis on the ways that dads can set examples of kindness.
“My daddy knits, my daddy sews,/He makes us both fantastic clothes,” it begins—and the gender-atypical activities give us a hint that this is not your usual book about fathers and sons. We see dads and their sons cooking, baking, and growing flowers, as well as singing by a campfire and running on a beach with their dog. When a boy breaks his dad’s favorite lamp, the dad doesn’t yell or punish, but acts with kindness and understanding. Another boy scrapes his knee, and his dad reassures him that it’s okay to cry. We see dads comforting their sons when they are “feeling blue” or scared at night and teaching them “to be strong in a gentle way.”
Is there explicit queerness here? No, but there’s definite gender creativity—though one might hope the activities and temperaments here cut across all genders. I do think many queer dads will see themselves and their parenting styles reflected—but make no mistake: This book is for all dads and their sons, all of whom can benefit from seeing such kind and loving expressions of fatherhood.
