Dads Read Too

JER: “ BOY + BOT ” by author Ame Dyckman and illustrator Dan Yaccarino does a great job demonstrating that people (or robots) might need different kinds of care and support, i.e. love languages, while still enjoying the same activities.  It takes a giant leap of emotional maturity to realize that what feels good or is nurturing to myself might not be nurturing to someone else.  Doctor’s have described this phenomenon to me when discussing toddler biting.  A biter will have a hard understanding the pain of a bite before they are themselves bitten.  Boy and Bot enjoyed collecting pine cones, walking on logs, skipping rocks, and rolling down hills.  But when Bot’s power button switched off, the boy was left confused wondering what went wrong.  The boy tried taking Bot home, feeding him applesauce, reading a story, and tucking Bot into bed.  When Bot found the boy asleep, he likewise took him home, gave him oil, read him an instruction manual, and was gett...

JER: “ Horrible Bear! ” by author Ame Dyckman and illustrator Zachariah OHora explores how all of us can be susceptible to emotional reactivity.  A kite was broken, words were said, tantrums resulted, barging and ruckus were practiced, but when we have a moment to reflect we can realize that sometimes things happen without there being ill intent.  Sometimes kites break, a favorite stuffie loses an ear, or “the excrement hits the air conditioning” (from one of my favorite books “Hocus Pocus”, Kurt Vonnegut) - but when it happens to us we can learn empathy.