Fathers receive their special day of public (and family) recognition on the third Sunday of June. To celebrate, we’ve gone to our stacks to show off some books featuring stories (and pictures) about dads. 
The Haircut, by Theo Heras and illustrated by Renné Benoit (Pajama Press) provides a toddler and daddy bonding story of a first trip to the barbershop. Pair it with this Sony’s Oscar-winning anime short, Hair Love, written by Matthew A. Cherry, to broaden the spectrum of hair-related tasks fathers take on as acts of parental affection.
Barefoot Books’ board book Baby’s First Words, by Tessa Strickland and Kate DePalma, and illustrated by Christiane Engle, has become a contemporary classic. The toddler in these pages has two dads, each of whom has his own personality, appearance, and evident household tasks. With page spreads that follow the family through a day of thematic activities, and relevant images tagged with their early vocabulary names, this offers repeated and even independent browsing opportunities by fathers and lapsitters.
For dads and kids who are ready for some activity inspiration, there’s Baking with Dad, written and illustrated by Aurora Cacciapuoti and published by Child’s Play. If the local dad in your household isn’t feeling much like taking on the wild adventures of baking with his preschooler, the publisher has provided a great assortment of other book-related activities to pursue. Click on the link here to find them.
Author Elizabeth Laird at Tiny Owl Publishing takes a Rumi tale for a spin in Grobblechops, illustrated by Jenny Lucander in a going-to-bed book that’s just right for Father’s Day. Featuring a nervous child, a loving dad, and the potential to make friends with those who bring difference as well as similarities into our world, this picture book could become a ritual read every evening between now and next Father’s Day.
Beginning readers can share Toon Books’ Luke on the Loose, by Harry Bliss, with their father, taking the lead in
unfolding the story of a little boy who decides to go off roaming on his own in Central park when his father becomes absorbed in a boring adult conversation with another grownup. Follow Luke’s path up hill, down dale, around pond and over puddle, and lots more. Then dad and child reading at home can draw their own maps of neighborhood paths they might imagine taking when on the loose.
Grandfathers also merit attention in our Father’s Day book bag. From New Zealand publisher Gecko Press, The Runaways, by Swedish author Ulf 
Stark and illustrated by Belgian artist Kitty Crowther, translated by Julia Marshall, has appeal as international as its creators. This picture book offers a tale of adventure undertaken by a small boy and his grandfather, both of whom are in need of escaping their circumstances if even for a brief sally into the wider world. If you’re connected across generations by video chat between grandparent and child households these days, share this one so granddads and grandchildren can have a shared experience, too
A different sort of grandfather stars in a series of early chapter books published by Floris Books. David MacPhail’s humorous storytelling is paired with occasional illustrations by Laura Aviño in a series that offers detection as well as all-in-the-family companionship in Top-Secret Grandad middle grade books that are well represented by the publisher’s description:
You’d think a ghost grandad would be a great sidekick for a wannabe detective. Unfortunately, if there was a ‘being a good ghost’ exam, Jay’s grandad would fail spectacularly — he hates walking through walls, he can’t touch anything and he’s rubbish at haunting. Since his dad literally did a vanishing act (he’s a magician), Jay Patel has turned detective, and now, with the help of his grandad, he’s on the case….
Authors Jesse Unaapik Mike and Kerry 
McCluskey’s Families, illustrated by Lenny Lishchenko and published by Inhabit Media, can be a good choice for Father’s Day in families where there may be no father or in any configuration where a father is a family member. Not all families are the same and that is both okay and may create the need for some reassurance when the calendar points up an occasion for celebrating what many people assume all families include.
Older offspring of the dad being celebrated on Father’s Day, or looking for something for dad himself? Check out Excellence, from Image Comics, written by Brandon Thomas and with art by Khary Randolph. Another father/son themed story, this one features Black magicians, super powers, and created by people of color.
Fathers receive their special day of public (and family) recognition on the third Sunday of June. To celebrate, we’ve gone to our stacks to show off some books featuring stories (and pictures) about dads.