A young boy named RJ is excited about celebrating Father’s Day with his Daddy and Dada, and looks forward to making cards for them at school. But when the teacher says they’ll only have half an hour to finish their cards before school ends, RJ knows that won’t be enough time to finish one for each of his dads.
The teacher suggests making a single card that they both can share, which RJ isn’t thrilled about; he really wanted each dad to have his own card. He gamely tries to finish one (complete with a poem that adds a humorous touch), but he’s worried and distracted as time ticks on. Meanwhile, the teacher has called over anyone who finished early—pretty much the rest of the class—to work on a special project.
At the end of the day, though, RJ’s classmates surprise him. Their special project was to make an extra card for RJ’s other dad, so he now has a card for each of them!
The story happily takes an upbeat and fresh approach to the theme of children with queer parents navigating Mother’s Day or Father’s Day activities at school. The problem is not that the holiday excludes one gender of parents, a la Stella Brings the Family, The Zero Dads Club, and Little Bee: The Buzz About the Party. No classmates are puzzled about which parent does what tasks in the family, as in Stella, and no one disparages the family, as in The Buzz About the Party or the older Antonio’s Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio.
When RJ tells the teacher that he doesn’t think he’ll be able to finish two cards in time, the teacher seems genuinely interested in helping him find a solution. Making a single card for both dads isn’t a bad suggestion. The teacher quickly realizes that doesn’t really satisfy RJ, though—but up against the limit of the school day, what can he do? The answer is a lovely modeling of support and allyship.
Debut author Ian Duncan’s text is clear and straightforward, but with an underlying warmth as it shows us the day from RJ’s perspective. Scot Richie’s illustrations are sweet and adorable. (You may recognize a similar style in his illustrations of Kari-Lynn Winters’ two-dad tale All Our Love.) It’s a highly recommended story that would be a great read not only before the parental holidays, but whenever kids are doing projects to take home to families, or anytime one wants to convey a message of allyship.
RJ has pale skin and red hair; one dad has pale skin and brown hair and the other has light tan skin and black hair.
