June 2007

Dear Fellow Book Lovers:

CELEBRATING FATHERS & FATHER FIGURES

I grew up honoring my father and grandfather on Father’s Day in June each year. So I was quite surprised to discover that Father’s Day has a fairly recent history. The first Father’s Day was unofficially celebrated on June 19, 1910 to honor William Smart, a single parent, for the love that he showed to his six motherless children. However, it wasn’t until 1972 that the day became official. Lyndon Johnson did sign a presidential proclamation in 1966 that declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day, but it was Richard Nixon who signed the law that made this proclamation permanent. Now, greeting card companies and retail stores have turned this special day into a commercial circus. I suspect that what most fathers, grandfathers, and father figures really want is to engage in good conversation and fun activities with the children in their lives. Libraries may have a role in promoting the idea of this type of sharing between fathers and children. Here are a few ideas:

• Encourage young readers to select a book to read to their fathers, or the father figures in their families.
• Ask readers to make summer reading lists for their fathers.
• Have readers make bookmarks that lists the ten best fathers or father figures in stories they have read.
• Sponsor a special event in the library for fathers and their children.

In addition to these ideas, engage readers in a discussion about fathers and fatherhood. Let them know that there are many different types of fathers. Ask them to think about the term, "father figure." Then display books about fathers and father figures for children to read. Random House offers the following:

Song and Dance Man (Ages 3-7) by Karen Ackerman; illustrated by Stephen Gammell

Kit's Wilderness (Ages 12 up) by David Almond

The Penderwicks (Ages 8-12) by Jeanne Birdsall

Piggybook (Ages 5-8) by Anthony Browne

Beans on the Roof (Ages 6-9) by Betsy Byars

Frenchtown Summer (Ages 12 up) by Robert Cormier; illustrated by Dan Krovatin

Bud, Not Buddy (Ages 9-12) by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 (Ages 10 up) by Christopher Paul Curtis

Babar and His Children (Ages 3-7) by Jean De Brunhoff

Bing: Something for Daddy (Ages 0-4) by Ted Dewan

Inside Grandad (Ages 9-12) by Peter Dickinson

Don't Look Behind You (Ages 12 up) by Lois Duncan

I Love You, Daddy (Ages 2-5) by Edie Evans

Sport (Ages 10 up) by Louise Fitzhugh

Lily's Crossing (Ages 8-12) by Patricia Reilly Giff

Flush (Ages 10 up) by Carl Hiaasen

My Dad Can Do Anything (Ages 3-7) by Stephen Krensky; illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

Papa Small (Ages 3-6) by Lois Lenski

Anatasia Krupnik series (Ages 9-12) by Lois Lowry

Autumn Street (Ages 9-12) by Lois Lowry

Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye (Ages 12 up) by Lois Lowry

Journey (Ages 9-12) by Patricia Maclachlan

The Quigleys (ages 5-12) by Simon Mason; illustrated by Helen Stephens

The Black Pearl (Ages 10 up) by Scott O’Dell

A Day No Pigs Would Die (Ages 12 up) by Robert Newton Peck

Where the Red Fern Grows (Ages 8-12) by Wilson Rawls

Lord of the Deep (Ages 10 up) by Graham Salisbury

The War with Grandpa (Ages 10 up) by Robert Kimmel Smith

All-of-a-Kind Family (Ages 8-12) by Sydney Taylor

Belle Prater's Boy (Ages 10 up) by Ruth White

Encourage readers to make Father’s Day cards that their favorite book characters might give to the father figures in their lives.

You may email me at pscales@bellsouth.net.