Father’s Day is the perfect time to add to your collection of books featuring dads. Dads come in all shapes and size – in both life and in books. The books below have silly dads, busy dads, soldier dads and more. We love each and every children’s book on this list. They’re favorites all year long. I hope you find a new book about dad to read and love.
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Also Read: The Surprising Key to Involving Dads in Literacy
My Dad is a Grizzly Bear
by Swapna Haddow & Dapo Adeola
MY DAD IS A GRIZZLY BEAR is a comical picture book. A little boy imagines his dad who snores and loves honey and loves to be outdoors as a grizzly bear. The illustrations are often hilarious and depict a bear in the role of the dad. Start to end, this is a funny story that is fantastic for reading aloud.
How to Cheer Up Dad
by Fred Koehler
Little Jumbo’s Dad is having a bad day. It’s hard to imagine why (insert lots of daily parenting battles here) but Jumbo is determined to cheer up his dad. This is such a sweet book full of Dad and son bonding. Super Jumbo is also a ton of fun.
Hero Dad
by Melinda Hardin
Obviously a lot of books are out there about superheros and some of them are delightful, but with Memorial Day on the brain, this is a different kind of super hero book. This is a great one for kids with a dad in the military. (There is one about moms too). I love how it compares the dad in the story to a superhero.
Two Old Potatoes and Me
by John Coy
Two Old Potatoes and Me is the story of a father and daughter who plant potatoes together and wait for them to grow. A gentle book about a relationship, divorce, and growth.
Big Problems Little Problems
by Ben Feller
illustrated by Merce Lopez
BIG PROBLEMS LITTLE PROBLEMS is a story about the bond between a father and son as they navigate life together. This book is about learning how to deal with frustrating and putting problems in perspective, but the heart of this story is the warm relationship between the dad and his son.
Night Driving
by John Coy
In Night Driving, a boy and his father are driving through the night to the mountains. A simple story about a relationship, baseball, and road tripping.
Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen
This award winning book follows a little girl and her dad into the forest on a crisp winter night to go owling. The story reads like poetry and the stunning illustrations perfectly capture their adventure.
When Dad Says “I Love You”
by Douglas Wood
This sweet book is about all of the ways Dads say ‘I Love You’ through their actions. The illustrations give this book a cozy, before bed feel and the message is wonderful.
Nelly Gnu and Daddy Too
by Anna Dewdney
From the bestselling author of the Llama Llama books comes a darling story about a little girl gnu and her daddy. This is all about Nelly and her day with Daddy. It is a day full of building, creating, and imagining. A day with daddy has plenty of silliness, but mostly you close the book feeling like you got a big warm hug.
Daddy Hugs
by Karen Katz
I love Karen Katz books for infants and toddlers. This is a sweet board book about a Daddy’s love. This is a perfect one for Daddy’s to read to their littles.
Going to the Zoo
by Tom Paxton
Daddy, not Mommy, but Daddy is taking us to the zoo. Follow a Dad and his busy kids on their trip to the zoo. We love this book to sing and the positive, involved Dad is just one of the reasons.
Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me
by Daniel Beaty
illustrated by Bryan Collier
This is heartbreakingly beautiful. Truly excellent father stories are so hard to find and this is one of the best I have read. It deals with the incarceration of a parent and in particular a black father so definitely not a light, fun read for every home or child but it is a truly touching book. It focuses on a little boy who has a wonderful relationship with his father until his father goes away and the son is left lost and missing his dad. Eventually he writes his dad a letter and the letter he gets in return brought tears to my eyes. It is not explained until the author’s note that his father has been incarcerated, rather focuses on the absence of a father who obviously still loves his child. Written with great heart and illustrated with creativity and texture, this is a book you shouldn’t miss.
Dad By My Side
by Soosh
Simple warm watercolor illustrations that depict a loving relationship between a dad and a daughter are the beauty of this book. The author explains that she made the father “deliberately big, much bigger than the figure of the little girl, his daughter, because this is how she sees him” and those illustrations, while some times comical, are just oozing with the warmth and love of this relationship.
Harriet Gets Carried Away
by Jessie Sima
A must-read story about imagination. A little girl who loves costumes lets her imagination run wild and has the most extraordinary adventure. Cleverly written, great page turns, and a fun one to read aloud. I included it here because although book is not about dads, Harriet has too dads in the story and I love the natural, warm way it is depicted.
Leo Loves Daddy
by Anna McQuinn
illustrated by Ruth Hearson
This is a darling board book. Perfect for fathers’ day but really I would read this to my baby every night. It is all about Daddy and why Leo loves him. I truly love a story that celebrates good, involved dads and this is an excellent one.
