Susan Quinn

A beautiful and lyrical celebration of fatherhood, My Dad reveals all the little things that one child’s dad does that make him the best dad in the world.

My Dad

Lysh (She/Her)

*A free copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – words & pictures in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own*

This picture story book follows a young child on ordinary, every day adventures with their dad, listing and explaining the many reasons why they love him. 

It is beautifully illustrated to fit the tone of the piece. 

In terms of teaching content, this book could be used for elements of poetry as each stanza follows an ABCB rhyming pattern. It is very literal in the sense that there weren't any metaphors or similies, however this definitely works better for earlier readers. There are also references to the seasons and activities that they partake in at that time of year. 

The diversity in this book is positive (though please note I am not an Own Voices reviewer). The child and their dad are illustrated as BIPOC, and the range of background characters also offer some diversity (wheelchair user, hijabi woman, BIPOC). The child could be any gender or sex as there are no direct references made to this and the activities that they partake in are not aligned to any gender stereotypes. It is just the child and their dad shown and the last line reads "and every day is special when it's just my dad and me!", suggesting that this dad is a single parent to an only child, a dynamic not often represented in literature. 

Overall, I would recommend this as an addition to school libraries.

My Dad

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