Dad's Bookshelf: September 2023
This time of year I always run into a bit of a predicament with Dad’s Bookshelf. During the holidays, there are books I’m excited about, but that I’m also going to highlight soon in our roundups of the best Halloween and Christmas books. What is a book-recommending guy to do?
Well the answer is some books are going to get a double dip. I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t just be honest about the 3 books I’m most excited about recently - even when they’re about to get tossed into a Halloween roundup as well (maybe as soon as next week!).
But does this mean the spooky books on Dad’s Bookshelf are definitely going to be at the very top of the Halloween list this year? Not necessarily. But definitely maybe. I’m very unpredictable with my top 10 lists, and on that day I’m simply going to go with which book gives me the best Halloween vibes.
And is September 2023 an entirely spooky Dad’s Bookshelf article? No not completely. I’d call one of the books spooky-season-adjacent, and one of them is undeniably non-spooky. But we also have the newest entry in the world of Gustavo the Ghost, and that’s a cause for Halloween celebration if I’ve ever seen one.
Just be glad I was able to stop myself from including any of the wonderful Christmas books starting to come out. Even I know it’s a tad early for that. But next month all bets are off!
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 brand new releases, it’s also not uncommon for us to be excited about an older book we just discovered or rediscovered.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links that will lead you to view the books on Bookshop.org and Amazon.
Vlad the Fabulous Vampire
Written and Illustrated by Flavia Z. Drago
Flavia Z. Drago is one of my very favorite creators in the picture book business. I love her style and her personal love for spooky stories. And I’m a very big fan of the World of Gustavo that she has created - currently a trilogy with the release of Vlad the Fabulous Vampire.
Drago has found a wonderful balance of introducing us to a quirky world of traditional creepy Halloween characters - and infusing sweet and thoughtful lessons into the story as well. And her and Candlewick Press always pull out all the stops with fantastic hidden covers and endpapers and all the icing on top.
Vlad loves fashion - and the color pink - but he’s afraid to express himself because of what others might think. Being yourself has always been one of my very favorite dad lessons to pass on to my kids, so it’s wonderful having a book like this in my arsenal. It’s important to follow our passions and there’s no better way to teach that than with a nice quirky vampire tale.
Ten-Word Tiny Tales
Written by Joseph Coelho and Illustrated by Various Artists
I like this book a whole lot - and part of what makes me like it is that it’s different. And, of course, that it’s a little spooky. It reminds me of the show Two Sentence Horror Stories on Netflix - or perhaps a collection of story starters meant to kickstart your imagination.
And the very best part of this concept is that each ten-world tale is interpreted and illustrated by a different illustrator - including several of our all-time favorites. Among the 21 illustrators are Júlia Sardá, Alex T. Smith, Nahid Kazemi, Shaun Tan, and Flavia Z. Drago. And it’s spectacular.
Joseph Coelho writes in the introduction that these tales came to him from other dimensions - and that it’s our job to let them grow like seeds. I love how he inspires us to expand on these stories, and to tell our own tales as well. And I particularly like that these stories are, as Coelho puts it, not “cutesy tales” but tales with “teeth and claws.” Those are my kind of tales!
Invisible Things
Written by Andy J. Pizza & Sophie Miller and Illustrated by Andy J. Pizza
Invisible Things is one of those books that had me at the cover. I don’t care what’s inside this book, I’m clearly going to purchase it.
But if you insist on knowing what’s inside despite already seeing this fantastic cover, I suppose I’ll tell you. It’s a cute practice in discussing the unseen feelings, ideas, and concepts in our life that are sometimes hard to explain or to talk about. What does a dog bark look like? Or a whisper?
But those are the easy ones! What about nostalgia? Or déjá vu? They all get their very own quirky representations too. And they’re all fabulous. I also particularly enjoy the pages of mystery characters or smells or feelings when we get the chance to come up with what we think they are.
There are tons of books about feelings out there - and it’s an important message for kids to know that feelings are okay and everyone has them. But I think it’s quite possible that this is now my very favorite book about feelings. It’s just so darn cute and creative and I think kids are going to love everything about it.
Have you read any of these wonderful books yet? What books have you enjoyed lately? Let us know in the comments!
