Since Father's Day is coming up, I thought it would be nice to collect some favorite picture books of ours that prominently feature father characters. Here are some of the best (in no particular order):

1. Winner of the Caldecott Medal in 1988, Jane Yolen's Owl Moon is the winter story of a father and daughter out for a quiet nighttime walk through the woods to see if they can see an owl. They're hoping for one as they give out the owl call, but as the girl has been told, "sometimes there's an owl and sometimes there isn't." Even though the father and daughter don't share many words, their shared experience is a picture of the many different forms that love can come in.

2. Speaking of fathers, daughters, and calling for birds, Crow Call, written by Lois Lowry (of The Giver series fame), also tells the story of a father and daughter who go for a walk in the woods looking for birds (though in this case they're hunting). Based on Lowry's own childhood, this book depicts a girl named Liz reconnecting with her father after his long absence in World War II. With lovely, realistic images by Bagram Ibatoulline, this story touches on several different themes, and ends with the hope that even a lapsed relationship can have a chance to begin again. It also makes a great autumn story.

3. I really like the artwork in Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. It consists of black-and-white photographs of urban locations, with cartoonish characters drawn over them. Trixie is a little girl who goes to the laundromat with her father, and inadvertently leaves her cherished Knuffle bunny there. She realizes this during the walk home, but since she can't talk, she has to find other toddler-level ways to attempt to communicate this fact to her father. Parents will probably all be quite familiar with this kind of toddler behavior, as well as the hero daddy who saves the day by simply recovering a beloved toy.

4. One thing I like about Guess How Much I Love You is that it's the only book in this list that's specifically a father/son story. And I also really like that it's just about how much they each love each other. Both Big and Little Nutbrown Hare use a variety of physical activities and distances to try to demonstrate the extent of their love -- and I think, in the end, the consensus must be that love is simply too big to measure. 

5. While the text of Mister Seahorse is fairly repetitive, Eric Carle's colorful illustrations are magnificent as always (I love the hippie-looking seahorses), and the book also includes some partially transparent pages with fish hiding behind them, which is fun for kids. I also like this book because it depicts several different species of fish in which it is the male that cares for the eggs (and sometimes even after they hatch), rather than the female. In a world where parent/child animal stories are often dominated by mothers, it is nice to see this exception, especially since it's based in fact!

Bonus: in some ways Ask Me is very opposite of Owl Moon in that the father and daughter do not have to be quiet -- in fact, the daughter is quite the chatterbox. The whole text of this story by Bernard Waber contains the back-and-forth musings, questions, and answers between a father and his talkative young daughter, aided by Suzy Lee's expressive and colorful illustrations.

Continuing with our "tree theme" of late, as well as books that highlight people who made a difference in their communities, The Tree Lady is another inspiring story of a woman who brought trees to the San Diego area more than a hundred years ago. Not only did Kate Sessions become the first woman to obtain a science degree from the University of California, but she then made "tree hunting" and planting her career. She sought out the varieties of trees that would be just right for the sunny, dry climate of Southern California, and went to work making the place beautiful.

This picture book tells her story from her tree-loving childhood to her education and finally her determination to try and find a way where others may not have tried. The affirming repetition of "But Kate did" throughout the story helps to emphasize this sense of perseverence, and the story concludes with some information about the way her legacy still impacts the area she called home.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author: H. Joseph Hopkins
Illustrator: Jill McElmurry
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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Though I just featured another picture book about Wangari Maathai (Wangari's Trees of Peace) I found Planting the Trees of Kenya to be just as wonderful at telling Wangari's story, and I also thought it was more detailed not only in the illustrations, but also in its descriptions of the before-and-after pictures of the Kenyan landscape, as well as the practical, daily benefits that a healthy amount of trees can bring to the average worker. 

So not only does this story briefly cover Wangari's early life and education, but it also paints a vivid picture of her vision for re-planting the destroyed trees of Kenya, empowering the women (and men, eventually) around her to take personal responsibility for their environment, and the difference that trees can make to an environment.

This is a great story of a remarkable woman, but also a book that can help to inspire us all to take a greater sense of responsibility for the care of the land that we all live on.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Claire A. Nivola
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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Wangari's Trees of Peace is the inspiring true story of a woman who faced the destruction of her country's natural environment and decided to do something about it herself, and in the process empowered many of her fellow Kenyans to care for their own land.

Wangari faced many obstacles, and her work was slow going at times, but after decades of work, the movement she started has re-planted millions of trees and helped to enrich the environment and people's lives. Her story is definitely a valuable one to introduce children to -- one caveat is that one of the obstacles depicted in this particular book is Wangari being assaulted by a law enforcement officer, which parents/teachers might like to be aware of before reading. Otherwise, the text and illustrations are quite accessible to young children.

Wangari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work in sustainable development, human rights, and peace.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Jeanette Winter
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: One scene shows Wangari being hit by a law enforcement officer, which may be disturbing for some children.

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If all the world were springtime
I would replant my grandad's birthdays
So that he would never get old.

If All the World Were... is a beautifully illustrated poem about a girl's relationship with her grandfather, encompassing both her joy as she spends time with him, and her sadness at his eventual passing.

Tracing life through the seasons of one year, the story finds beauty in simplicity, the small joys of simply being together and doing things. Without using a lot of words, it communicates love and memories, each memory represented by a small token that relates to the day they spent together.

This one got me a little teary -- it's very sweet and even in the sadness, celebrates the joy of good memories. The colors in the illustrations are also lovely.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Scrounged From: NetGalley

Format: Kindle
Author: Joseph Coelho
Illustrator: Allison Colpoys
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: Obviously, this book deals with loss and is sad (but also happy). No specifics the illness/dying process are mentioned.

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