Adventures with My Daddies

by Gareth Peter, Garry Parsons (Illustrator)

Overview

Set off on a series of incredible adventures with a family that has two dads!

As they read bedtime stories with their little one, the pages burst into colorful life. Together, this LGBTQ+ family battles dragons, dodges deadly dinosaurs, zooms to the moon, and explores the world in a hot air balloon, before winding down to sleep in a wonderfully cozy ending.

This rhyming read aloud celebrates the power of imagination and champions the love that brings all kinds of families together.

Author and illustrator team Gareth Peter and Garry Parsons deliver an imaginative, heartwarming tale filled with bright and optimistic acrylic and pencil illustrations

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682632819
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD480L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Gareth Peter has had a career as a composer and lyricist for theater, with his songs performed on stage by West End and Broadway voices across the United Kingdom and internationally. He founded the Broadway School of Performing Arts, a part-time theater school, in 2004. He was also a top-ten Penguin Random House Write Now finalist. Gareth lives in Nottingham with his partner, two huskies, and two beautiful adopted children.

Garry Parsons has worked as an artist for publishing and commercial illustration, with clients that include Vanity Fair, The Guardian, The Times, Penguin Random House, Egmont, Hodder, and Andersen Press. He illustrated the best-selling The Dinosaur That Pooped series. Garry studied Fine Art at Canterbury and received his MA in Sequential Illustration at University of Brighton. He lives in South London with his family.

Editorial Reviews

05/17/2021

An adoptee with light brown skin and dark curls narrates this rhyming tale, which follows the child and their two fathers, one with dark skin and the other white, as they embark on reading adventures together—exploring high fantasy, dinosaurs, astronauts, and more. Peter presents sprightly rhymes in the narrator’s child-appropriate voice, relaying the family’s bookish escapades before reaching the heart of the volume: “Books take us on these journeys/ over forest, sand, and sea./ But my daddies’ favorite story is...// the one that brought them me!” Detailed acrylic and pencil illustrations by Parsons offer cheery, gently humorous accompaniments, notably a scrapbook spread of the child’s journey to adoption and photos with their fathers and the family dog. An endearing bedtime read that will resonate with any family. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Vivid, imaginative storytelling. . . a relatable tale for children of adopted, blended, and LGBTQ+ families. . . . Accompanied by Parsons' bright, energetic illustrations, Peter's rhyming text reminds young readers that all types of family structures are valid and that different kinds of families are capable of kindness, education, protection, and, most important, fun." —Booklist

"A heartfelt celebration of family love. . . . Educators and library workers will enjoy the book's easy read-aloud prose while caregivers will value the important message of family bonds. The illustrations are bright and friendly, packed with details that will especially reward lap readers; the family dog that's included in every scene makes for a delightful seek-and-find element. . . . Those with pajama storytime programs and families looking for their next great bedtime read will find this book particularly useful. A sweet adventure."—Kirkus Reviews

"Beautiful and detailed illustrations in acrylic and pencil with bold colors take up most of the page. Even pacing and rhythmic rhyme will easily take children on an engaging and relatable adventure. This inclusive book about the power of reading will round out picture book shelves, especially where there 's a need for adoption stories."—School Library Journal

"An endearing bedtime read that will resonate with any family." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

12/24/2021

K-Gr 2—A young child with brown skin enjoys reading with her two fathers in this rhyming picture book. Her daddies, one who is Black and one who is white, enjoy reading to her and acting out the stories in so much detail that the tales comes alive. The little girl imagines dinosaurs, space, and dragons as she is read to: "Books take us on these journeys over forest, sand, and sea, but my daddies' favorite story is…the one that brought them to me!" The images present photographs of the girl's adoption story. An adorable little brown dog is also a big part of the family, as it appears frequently throughout. There are only one to two sentences on each page. Beautiful and detailed illustrations in acrylic and pencil with bold colors take up most of the page. Even pacing and rhythmic rhyme will easily take children on an engaging and relatable adventure. VERDICT This inclusive book about the power of reading will round out picture book shelves, especially where there's a need for adoption stories.—Tracy Cronce, Stevens Point Pub. Sch. District, WI

School Library Journal

2021-03-17
A heartfelt celebration of family love.

A young pigtailed protagonist and their two fathers are the stars of this picture-book adventure. In the illustrations, the dads, one White and one Black, share bedtime duty as they wrangle their child through a few stories and tub time, then finally to bed. And in the narration, the child, who is depicted with tan skin and brown hair, explains why they love their dads. The child’s remarks include a glimpse into their adoption scrapbook, memories of a costume party, and examples of the small things the dads do to show their love. Educators and library workers will enjoy the book’s easy read-aloud prose while caregivers will value the important message of family bonds. The illustrations are bright and friendly, packed with details that will especially reward lap readers; the family dog that’s included in every scene makes for a delightful seek-and-find element. One detail that’s not so delightful is an imagined scene with Orientalist tropes, including a turban on the White dad (the Black dad is dressed as a medieval European monarch). The story is simple and treads familiar ground, but it does so in such a tender way that readers will enjoy returning to it again and again. Those with pajama storytime programs and families looking for their next great bedtime read will find this book particularly useful.

A sweet adventure. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews