Dads Read Too

JER: “ Ada Twist, SCIENTIST ” by author Andrea Beaty and illustrator David Roberts is a really great introduction into the Scientific Method, and the important part questioning plays in advancing understanding.  Parenting is really hard, I often want to resort to arguments from authority to “make” my children do I what I want/need, but I have also seen how much my children’s development improves when I allow their curiosity to guide them and when I have patience for the messes, or “creative explosions”, that result.

JER: “ My Hair Is A Garden ” by author/illustrator Cozbi A. Cabrera starts with a specific problem - “Mack’s hair is always a mess” everyone, even Mack, seemed to accept it as a fact.  What I love about this book is that it expertly weaves in universal themes from one specific problem:  • Relying on Community: “there was something special about Miss Tillie . . . You could say her house had a glory. . . . She knew I was at her house for a reason. . . . Miss Tillie called my mama, who said I could stay there a while.”  • Growth takes time: “I thought about how that little tree had survived and all the water Miss Tillie gave it every day, even though it looked like a broken branch.  I wondered if I would have given up and thrown it away.”  • Diversity is beautiful:  A Japanese maple isn’t prettier than succulents, “they’re both beautiful even though they’re so different.”; and  • I especially love the last few pages: “My hair is a garden.  And like e...