Father’s Day Books to Read Together
Make this Father’s Day special by sharing the gift of reading! Celebrate Father’s Day with any father-like figure in your life with these books that will bring your family together. Create lasting memories the Father’s Day with our curated recommendations.
For little kids
A young son and his father trek through trees and listen to birdsong, dig for worms and go fishing, and enjoy the breeze sitting side by side, just like Pop Pop and Daddy did, years ago.
A heartfelt and hopeful tale that touches on grieving the loss of a loved one as a father and son recreate old memories and make new ones in a day-long hiking adventure.
Being a superhero is hard work! Fighting evil, catching bad guys, saving the day, and it’s messy too! After a long day of being a superhero, even the best superhero has to take a bath, wash their superhero clothes, and rest up for another day of saving the world. With punchy words, bouncing lines, and a whole lot of respect for the hard work superheroes do, this is a great bedtime read for all kinds of superhero kids.
A Sikh father and daughter with a special hair bond proudly celebrate and share a family tradition in this charming story perfect for fans of Hair Love and I Love My Hair!
Some days he braids her hair in two twists down the side of her face. Other days he weaves it into one long braid hanging down her back, just like a unicorn tail.
Spend a day with an irresistible father and child, riding the ups and downs of the emotions that come before a parent goes away, and discover the deep comfort of learning that Papa’s love is strong, no matter where he is.
With art that strikes an enchanting balance between classic and contemporary, Soman combines glowing jewel tones and modern-day details with woodsy cross-hatching and loveable bears that bring to mind Maurice Sendak’s beloved Little Bear books. This joyous celebration of the bond between father and child is a welcome reassurance that separation anxiety can be navigated and reminds young readers that they are loved and cared for, and that soon enough, Papa’s Home again.
For kids reading independently
It’s a summer of family, friendship, and fun fiascos in this acclaimed novel that’s as irresistible as a fresh-baked cookie.
Ellis Bailey Johnson has the summertime blues. Instead of hanging out with friends, listening to music, and playing his harmonica, Ellis has to help bring his dad’s latest farfetched, sure-to-fail idea to life: open the world’s first chocolate chip cookie store.
They have six weeks to perfect their recipe, get a run-down A-frame storefront on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard into tip-top shape, and bring in customers. But nothing goes according to plan, especially when family secrets start to surface. Can Ellis bake up a happy ending?
Partially based on Shawn Amos’s own experiences growing up the son of Wally “Famous” Amos, and packed with humor, heart, and fun illustrations, this debut novel sings with the joy of self-discovery, unconditional love, and community.
“Shawn Amos has written a beautiful story of family and music, of growing up and having adventures, of business building and character building, that is at once very specific and universal. I love Cookies and Milk as much as I love cookies and milk.” –Lisa See, New York Times bestselling and award winning author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Shanghai Girls
**Don’t miss Ellis’s next adventure: Ellis Johnson Might Be Famous
An instant New York Times bestseller!
An Indiebound bestseller!
An Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor Book!
Troublemaker follows the events of the LA Riots through the eyes of 12-year-old Jordan as he navigates school and family. This book will highlight the unique Korean American perspective.
12-year-old Jordan feels like he can’t live up to the example his older sister set, or his parent’s expectations. When he returns home from school one day hoping to hide his suspension, Los Angeles has reached a turning point. In the wake of the acquittal of the police officers filmed beating Rodney King, as well as the shooting of a young black teen, Latasha Harlins by a Korean store owner, the country is at the precipice of confronting its racist past and present.
As tensions escalate, Jordan’s father leaves to check on the family store, spurring Jordan and his friends to embark on a dangerous journey to come to his aide, and come to terms with the racism within and affecting their community.
One year after a random shooting changed their family forever, Nora and her father are exploring a slot canyon deep in the Arizona desert, hoping it will help them find peace. Nora longs for things to go back to normal, like they were when her mother was still alive, while her father keeps them isolated in fear of other people. But when they reach the bottom of the canyon, the unthinkable happens: A flash flood rips across their path, sweeping away Nora’s father and all of their supplies.
Suddenly, Nora finds herself lost and alone in the desert, facing dehydration, deadly snakes, venomous scorpions, and, worst of all, the Beast who has terrorized her dreams for the past year. If Nora is going to save herself and her father, she must conquer her fears, defeat the Beast, and find the courage to live her new life.
Don’t miss Dusti Bowling’s novel, Dust, available now.
When Lenny Volpe, former quarterback of the worst professional football team in the nation, leaves his family and disappears, the Chicago Horribles win their first game in a long time. Fans are thrilled. The world seems to go back to normal. Except for the Volpe kids.
Winston throws himself into playing the tuba, and Louise starts secret experiments to find a cure for brain injuries, and they’re each fine, just fine, coping in their own way. That is, until the investigation of some eccentric teacher behavior and the discovery of a real live bear paraded as the Horribles’ new mascot make it clear that things are very much Not Fine. The siblings may just need each other, after all.
For teens
Nira Ghani has always dreamed of becoming a musician. Her Guyanese parents, however, have big plans for her to become a scientist or doctor. Nira’s grandmother and her best friend, Emily, are the only people who seem to truly understand her desire to establish an identity outside of the one imposed on Nira by her parents. When auditions for jazz band are announced, Nira realizes it’s now or never to convince her parents that she deserves a chance to pursue her passion.
As if fighting with her parents weren’t bad enough, Nira finds herself navigating a new friendship dynamic when her crush, Noah, and notorious mean-girl, McKenzie “Mac,” take a sudden interest in her and Emily, inserting themselves into the fold. So, too, does Nira’s much cooler (and very competitive) cousin Farah. Is she trying to wiggle her way into the new group to get closer to Noah? Is McKenzie trying to steal Emily’s attention away from her? As Farah and Noah grow closer and Emily begins to pull away, Nira’s trusted trumpet “George” remains her constant, offering her an escape from family and school drama.
But it isn’t until Nira takes a step back that she realizes she’s not the only one struggling to find her place in the world. As painful truths about her family are revealed, Nira learns to accept people for who they are and to open herself in ways she never thought possible.
A relatable and timely contemporary, coming-of age story, In the Key of Nira Ghani explores the social and cultural struggles of a teen in an immigrant household.
Amy Mathers Award Winner
MYRCA Award Nominee
R. Ross Arnett Award Nominee
American Library Association YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
Red Maple Award Nominee
Red Maple Honour Book
Barnes & Noble’s Top 25 Most Anticipated Own Voices Novels
Chapters-Indigo Most Anticipated Teen Books
Junior Library Guild Selection
CCBC Best Pick for Kids & Teens
CCBC Red Leaf Literature
OLA White Pine Teen Committee Summer Reading List
Dear Evan Hansen,
Today’s going to be an amazing day and here’s why…
When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family’s griefover the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell, that the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend.
Suddenly, Evan isn’t invisible anymore—even to the girl of his dreams. And Connor Murphy’s parents, with their beautiful home on the other side of town, have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his closest friend.As Evan gets pulled deeper into their swirl of anger, regret, and confusion, he knows that what he’s doing can’t be right, but if he’s helping people, how wrong can it be?
No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. And a website. He’s confident. He’s a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. Until everything is in danger of unraveling and he comes face to face with his greatest obstacle: himself.
A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity, and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation.
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK
Recipient of the 2021 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Medal
One of BuzzFeed‘s Must-Read YA Books of 2020
A Best Book of the Year: Cosmopolitan * Kirkus Reviews * SheReads * New York Public Library
“An engrossing #OwnVoices novel.”
—PopSugar
“This book will set your dreams on fire . . . It’s fabulous.”
— Reese Witherspoon
A powerful contemporary YA for fans of The Poet X and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter set in Argentina, about a rising soccer star who must put everything on the line—even her blooming love story—to follow her dreams.
In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life.
At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father.
On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university.
But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol—and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her.
Filled with authentic details and the textures of day-to-day life in Argentina, heart-soaring romance, and breathless action on the pitch, Furia is the story of a girl’s journey to make her life her own.
This modern summer romance set on Cape Cod features two young adult poets divided by centuries.
Michaela Dunn, living on present day Cape Cod, dreams of getting into an art school, something her family just doesn’t understand. When her stepfather refuses to fund a trip for a poetry workshop, Michaela finds the answer in a local contest searching for a poet to write the dedication plaque for a statue honoring Captain Benjamin Churchill, a whaler who died at sea 100 years ago.She struggles to understand why her town venerates Churchill, an almost mythical figure whose name adorns the school team and various tourist traps. When she discovers the 1862 diary of Leta Townsend, however, she gets a glimpse of Churchill that she didn’t quite anticipate. In 1862, Leta Townsend writes poetry under the name Benjamin Churchill, a boy who left for sea to hunt whales. Leta is astonished when Captain Churchill returns after his rumored death. She quickly falls for him. But is she falling for the actual captain or the boy she constructed in her imagination?
to read together
Tiny Blue is very small, but he has lots of big, big questions: How old is the ocean? Do starfish live in the sky? Is there sand on the moon? Tiny Blue thinks his papa is very wise and must know the answers to everything! But can Papa answer perhaps the biggest question of them all: What is love? Perfectly capturing the curious nature of young children, Papa Loves You, Tiny Blue is a beautiful exploration of nature and a heartwarming tale of the love between parent and child.
An emotional and tender award-winning picture book that accessibly explores depression within a family, through the use of color.
I’ve always been my dad’s little sunspot.
But one day, his world was no longer bright and yellow—it was a deep, dark blue.
As one father embarks on an emotional journey, his daughter will navigate life lived in and around his depression. Most days the sun won’t be able to peek through the clouds. But with each new wave of change, love will always bond them together.
This poignant and important story, with its use of color to indicate the ups and downs of one family’s emotions, is an accessible way to discuss mental illness with young readers.
From the creators of the popular ChopChop Family magazine, this colorful cookbook features more than 150 recipes and cooking tips that make it fun and easy for families and kids to learn to cook and enjoy delicious, nutritious, affordable meals together.
This colorful, easy-to-follow, beginner cookbook from ChopChop Family magazine, a James Beard award-winning publication with a mission to get families to cook real food together, features more than 150 recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Specially designed to appeal to both adults and kids in budget- and time-strapped families, the recipes include favorites like Overnight Oatmeal, Double Vegetable Fried Rice, Free Form Lasagna, and One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream, along with simple cooking and meal-prep instructions. The book is packed with inspiring introductions to popular whole foods, such as All About Carrots (or Broccoli or Kale!), kitchen skills, such as How to Chop an Onion or Cook Rice (and why brown rice is better than white rice), Mix & Match charts (sandwiches, smoothies, and beyond), and nutrition sidebar (What are Omega-3’s anyway?). Every page of this rich resource is designed to help families develop the know-how and confidence to cook with whole foods and the many benefits of making and eating homemade meals together.
It’s kids’ cooking night—and they’re in charge of making dinner! This selection of 25 easy, budget-friendly dinner recipes from the best-selling Cooking Class series teaches kids how to make tasty, healthy meals with easy-to-follow step-by-step photos.
The recipes feature a range of kid favorites, including Popcorn Chicken, Easy Cheesy Quesadillas, Pasta with Tomatoes & Fresh Mozzarella, Black Beans & Rice, Pizza, Meatballs with Creamy Sauce, Super Sliders, and Supper Salad have been specially selected for their budget-friendliness (averaging $2 a serving) and use of easy-to-find pantry staples, as well as their nutritional value. With instructions on basic cooking skills, like chopping vegetables and stir-frying, grocery shopping, and kitchen safety, Kids Cook Dinner offers aspiring chefs ages 8 to 12 everything they need to know to successfully—and proudly—put a healthy, homecooked meal on the table that the whole family will love.
for you
“An invaluable resource for parents and caregivers,” this important, empathetic guidebook offers practical steps for managing children’s health (Emily Oster, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Cribsheet and Expecting Better).
Any parent who has ever walked out of a concerning appointment with their child’s doctor or teacher has experienced a heady mix of emotions–fear, love, confusion, concern, sadness, and perhaps even anger. While every parent hopes for a healthy child, the reality is that children face many common challenges, including medical issues like ADHD, asthma, food allergies, feeding issues, learning disabilities, anxiety and depression, and developmental delays, throughout their formative years. As the role of a parent becomes one of a caregiver, it can be overwhelming for parents and children alike, particularly if money, time, access, or any combination of those are in short supply.
As a balm, Dr. Kelly Fradin offers Advanced Parenting, based on her experience as a complex-care pediatrician. In this crucial guide, parents will find empathy and support as well as evidence-based practical guidance. Of greatest import is the need for tools with which to manage the emotional stress that comes from having a child who deviates from the norm, as well as coping with uncertainty and navigating the business of care. Readers will discover ways to optimize the outcomes for their family and make their day-to-day life easier.
Advanced Parenting will help families from the beginning of their journey, helping parents to decide when a child needs help, accepting the implications of a challenge, obtaining a correct diagnosis, learning about the issue, building a treatment team and coming up with a comprehensive plan. Dr. Fradin explores how a child struggling can affect the entire family dynamic including the parent’s relationships and the siblings overall well-being, and with her experience as a complex care pediatrician, she will help parents avoid common mistakes. Parents will feel seen, supported, and better prepared to be both a parent and a caregiver.
The host of the top ranked Zen Parenting podcast and mother of three reveals a calmer, more self-aware parenting approach for parents to effectively teach and support their children: say less, but listen more.
We can’t always plan for what’s next—that’s been made more and more clear in the past few years. The truth is that life is never predictable, especially as parents. What is possible is your unlimited capacity for compassion, and caring—for yourself and for your children. As you navigate the uncertainty with openness and humility, you find the clarity, connection and community that is Zen Parenting.Using the seven chakras, therapist Cathy Cassani Adams discusses parenting issues such as school pressure, self-care, emotional intelligence, mental health, sexuality and gender, and more, while offering concrete examples and strategies to help you wake up to your life as a parent:
Chakra One—The Right to Be: Establish your physical, emotional, and mental foundation
Chakra Two—The Right to Feel: Practice creativity and how to access your emotions
Chakra Three—The Right to Act: Establish a sense of self for yourself and your kids
Chakra Four—The Right to Love and Be Loved: Experience openheartedness, empathy, and compassion
Chakra Five—The Right to Speak and Hear Truth: Discover genuine and meaningful communication
Chakra Six—The Right to See: Explore mindfulness, meditation, and your own intuition
Chakra Seven—The Right to Know: Connect to something greater than yourself
“This book is my new favorite guide for parenting, to be sure. But it’s also a master class in a life well-lived.”
—Dr. John Duffy, author of Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety and The Available Parent
In Baby Making for Everybody, queer millennial midwives Ray Rachlin and Marea Goodman use their professional expertise to demystify the dizzying process of pursuing parenthood as queer and solo people, offering detailed, gender-affirming, body-positive advice on topics including:
- Fertility tracking for people with uteruses
- Choosing a sperm donor, egg donor, or surrogate
- Legal considerations for LGBTQ+ families
- Navigating pregnancy and gender identity
- IUI, ICI, and IVF procedures
- Foster parenting and adoption
- Miscarriage and infertility
The result is a much-needed compassionate step-by-step guide for every aspect of the complicated, messy, and glorious process of building a family. Combining practical information with personal narratives and first-person community wisdom, this book provides prospective parents with the information they need to grow their families.
There comes a time in every new mother’s life when she realizes that all the pregnancy well-wishes and baby shower gifts left her profoundly unqualified for the realities of life with a newborn. Who knew there would be so much crying—and how much of that crying would be coming from the mom?
Bestselling author Dawn Dais believes that a vast conspiracy exists to hide the truth about parenting from expectant mothers for fear that if the truth got out, women would (1) stop having babies or (2) stop bringing them home. Eschewing the adorableness that oozes out of other parenting books, Dais offers real advice from real moms—along with hilarious anecdotes, tips, and the encouragement every new mom needs to survive the first year of parenthood.
Revised and updated with new chapters offering advice for single moms and tips for partners,The Sh!t No One Tells You is a must-have companion for every new mother’s sleepless nights and poop-filled days.
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