Dad's Bookshelf: December 2019
Among the shelves of picture books in our home you’ll find one shelf dedicated entirely to Dad’s favorite children’s books. It’s a shelf I very happily curate with my favorite picture books of all time - all of the books I personally want to read to the kids over and over again. And it’s by no means an easy feat for any book to earn its way onto Dad’s bookshelf.
It’s impossible to put into words a list of qualifications for a place on Dad’s bookshelf. It’s easy to spot common themes among my favorite picture books - such as empathy and imagination - but you’ll also undoubtedly discover a wide range of genres on my shelf. All I can tell you for certain is that I think very highly of the quality of the books on my shelf, and merely being considered for a place on Dad’s bookshelf suggests I couldn’t recommend it any more highly to other parents and teachers.
That’s why I’m going to begin making a habit out of sharing the picture books I’m extremely excited about every month in a series called Dad’s Bookshelf - a virtual edition of the real life bookshelf in our house. My intention with these articles is to share the children’s books we’ve been reading a lot recently (whether they are new releases or not), and only if they’ve impressed and excited me enough to reach the lofty status of Dad’s-bookshelf-worthy.
There are a lot of new picture books we’re excited about this month - probably because we’ve been working very hard on researching the best picture books of the year. We try our very best to leave no stone unturned when finding our favorite books of the year, and the Dad Suggests awards for best picture books of 2019 are due out very soon in January.
Two of the books on Dad’s Bookshelf this month are strong contenders for ending up on that list, and one of them is actually a sneak peek at a book that seems to be an early write-in for 2020. The fact that I singled out these three books for our first ever Dad’s Bookshelf article (while I’m also currently drowning in the best picture books of the year scattered around the house) should give you a good idea about how special these books are.
Dad’s Bookshelf is a continuing, monthly series featuring the kids books we are most excited about each month. The series is named after the real life bookshelf we have in our home, where I keep all of my favorite picture books of all time. While the books we share on Dad’s Bookshelf are often new releases, it’s also not uncommon for us to be excited about an older book we just discovered.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Clicking on those links will lead you to view the books’ listings on Amazon or IndieBound.
The Fate of Fausto
Written and Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers is an absolute treasure for parents all over the world. We’re all very lucky to have him on earth doing what he’s doing, and sharing the fruits of his labor with our kids.
Fausto is a real jerk who wants to control everything around him - the sheep, the trees, and even the mountains. It’s an incredibly interesting fable, and it can get you thinking about things like love, power, and your place in the world.
Kids will easily glean a lesson about kindness and greed from the book, but The Fate of Fausto feels a lot deeper than that too. Underneath the surface you might even discover an exploration of purpose and meaning in life - and that makes me extremely excited to share it with the kids.
The Fate of Fausto is a beautiful work of art that is the epitome of a good inclusion on Dad’s Bookshelf. The art is outstanding, it’s a creative, entertaining, and imaginative story, and it provides the opportunity for a learning opportunity and some legitimate deep thinking.
The Boring Book
Written and Illustrated by Shinsuke Yoshitake
The Boring Book is absolutely brilliant, and it’s the first book by Shinsuke Yoshitake that our family has read. Suffice it to say, we’ve already added many, many more of his books to our list.
Yoshitake has a reputation of adding introspection and reflection to his picture books, and it’s an absolute delight. Kids often have far more capability for interesting, abstract thought than we give them credit for - and it makes me feel actual excitement to share something like The Boring Book with my kids.
The Boring Book is a stream-of-consciousness book from a curious child who is thinking about the meaning of “boring”. What does it actually mean to be “bored”? It’s honestly the perfect book for our silly little deep thinker - and I love encouraging this type of creative thought.
Bird Hugs
Written and Illustrated by Ged Adamson
It’s been a long time since a cover of a picture book has spoken to me the way the cover of Bird Hugs does. If Adamson’s art style doesn’t make you smile and scream pure happiness to you, then I don’t know how to help you.
We received an advanced copy of Bird Hugs this month, and it blew me away. It officially comes out on New Year’s Day, and on the first day of the year we’ll already have one book set aside for our list of the best picture books of 2020.
The illustrations inside the book live up to the amazing cover in every way. Bernard the bird is instantly an all-time favorite character. And there’s quite a lot to explore in his story of having wings far too long to fly: feelings of frustration and questions of self-worth, all the way to love, companionship, and finding your place in the world. This book makes me happy.
What’s your family reading this month? Have you found any new favorites? Let us know in the comments!
