Every day I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.
- Claude Monet
Dad Suggests was created to share with others the many different things that we have loved sharing with our own children.
Our hope is that - by reading or visiting our children’s bookstore - you will find something special to enjoy with your own family.
- Ryan
It’s time to start planning the Advent calendars your family will use to count down the days of the holiday season! Discover the best Advent calendars for kids and families - a collection of our family’s very favorite books and calendars.
Wizards and Werewolves is the perfect choice for an active, outdoor game with a spooky spin on it for Halloween. It’s like capture the flag infused with imagination and childhood wonder and a little bit of Halloween spirit as well. And that makes it the perfect choice for our October Game of the Month.
Muppets Haunted Mansion released recently on Disney Plus, and it instantly became a Halloween classic. It’s rare these days to have a new movie to add to our family Halloween traditions, but a spooky Muppets musical certainly fits the bill.
This is a special month for Dad’s Bookshelf, because it features several legitimate contenders for best picture book of the year. Not only have we fallen in love with all of these picture books, but we have a pretty good feeling they’ll end up on our rundown of the year’s best.
This month we’re giving away a copy of the board game Play Trick-or-Treat. Be the first one to reach the haunted house, and have fun collecting candy along the way! Happy Halloween!
It’s time for the spookiest list of the year - the best Halloween picture books of 2021! Discover our favorite spooky picture books of the year and start a new Halloween tradition with the kids.
A new series of kids books has launched called the Kid Classics - and they’re starting with two spooky masterpieces! These illustrated editions of Dracula and Frankenstein are the perfect way to introduce your kids to these spooky, world-famous stories.
Our Game of the Month for September is HABA’s newest addition to their My Very First Games series - Animal Upon Animal Junior. It’s a spectacular stacking game for toddlers with both competitive and cooperative ways to play.
This month we’re giving away a copy of the Hocus Pocus board game by Ravensburger. It’s a cooperative family card game where you aren’t allowed to talk to each other - and it’s a perfect addition to a spooky family game night.
Discover the picture books that we’ve fallen in love with in September. These picture books feature messages like following your dreams, discovering your place in the world, and even a special love letter to the relationship between a working mom and her son.
If you have any fans of Pixar’s Onward in your house, you’ll fall in love with Quests of Yore from The OP. It’s the real-life version of the RPG board game that Barley is obsessed with in the movie, and it’s a spectacular family role-playing experience.
The Pop Classics series of picture books from Quirk Books and illustrator Kim Smith are the perfect set of books for parents that grew up in the 80s and 90s. Your favorite movies and TV shows are now picture books you can share with your kids - nerdy parents rejoice!
Discover our favorite picture books about following your dreams. Help your kids pursue their true passions and chase their dreams. Teach them to keep that curiosity and childlike wonder alive, even in the face of societal pressure.
This month we’re starting a new back-to-school tradition - a giveaway of my very favorite book to read on the first day of school. All the Ways to Be Smart is not only brilliant, it has a very important message for kids.
Dad’s Bookshelf for August features 3 picture books that have captured our hearts recently. All of them feature beautiful profiles of humanity - creating amazing beauty while remaining lighthearted.
Our Game of the Month for July is Outfoxed! from Gamewright. Outfoxed! is a cooperative whodunit board game for ages 5 and up, and it’s one of our favorite logic games for kids ever made.
We have an interview with author and illustrator Eric Fan of The Fan Brothers. Eric is the creator of some of our favorite picture books of all time, including Ocean Meets Sky and The Barnabus Project. And his thoughtful responses deliver a lot of insight into those books as well as his artistic process and his history as a creator.
Bluey is a kids show about a family of dogs from Australia, and it’s the best kids show on TV right now. And, best of all, adults honestly love it too. You should absolutely be watching it with your kids right now.
