Today’s family storytime was about Dads!

“What?” you ask.  “Father’s Day was three months ago!”

Well, some really great books about Dads came out recently and I have been wanting to share them, and figured, Why should I wait for an excuse?  You never need an excuse to share a good book–nor do you need an excuse to appreciate Dads!

Our first book was the very silly book My Dad Thinks He’s Funny by Katrina Germein, illustrated by Tom Jellett.  It’s about a dad who takes everything literally and injects humor into the most random situations!

mydadthinks

Then we did something I call “Daddy Bingo.”  I put five letters on the felt board:

Daddy bingo 1 And we sang a song to the tune of “BINGO”:

There’s someone who takes care of me, and Daddy is his name-o

D-A-D-D-Y

D-A-D-D-Y

D-A-D-D-Y

And Daddy is his name-o

And then we took the first letter away and clapped in its place:

Daddy bingo 2

We kept taking letters away until there were no more letters and only clapping!  It was a really easy, fun game that you could modify to use other five-letter words to encourage those early literacy skills.

Next we read Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea.  Shea writes great books for preschoolers and toddlers.  This book is about another silly dad who acts like he doesn’t know how to get dressed or eat or give hugs, and his son who has to show him.

ohdaddy

We sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and then read the book How to Cheer Up Dad by Fred Koehler.  This one’s about the frustrations all parents deal with when their kids make a mess or won’t cooperate, but the child in the story does his best to cheer Dad up by doing things he knows his dad loves.

cheerupdad

We sang “Shake Your Sillies Out” and then showed a video.  This one’s a favorite–Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity from the DVD The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! with animated stories by Mo Willems.  It was a great video, featuring the voice of the author, his wife, and their daughter Trixie.  AND it’s also a great book about a dad who does a lot for his little girl–even getting up in the middle of the night to reunite her with her beloved Knuffle Bunny!  You can check out both the DVD and the book from the library.

knuffletoo

Remember: you don’t need an excuse to share great books, and you never need an excuse to tell your dads, moms, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents that you love them!