One for Dads (and Moms): Piglet and Papa

If you know a dad who loves his little ones even when they aren't perfect piglets, he'll love Piglet and Papa by Aussie author Margaret Wild, already known for its companion book, Piglet and Mama.

When Piglet and Papa start roughhousing, she can't resist taking one little nip at his tail--except that it's not a little nip, it's a painful chomp! "You little rascal," Papa grunts, and chases Piglet out of the pigsty. Is Papa really, really mad at her, she wonders, but when she asks if he still loves, her, he's too busy grunting grumpily to hear.

Piglet creeps away, feeling guilty and unloved. As she wanders through the barnyard, she meets Horse, and, feeling needy, asks him if he loves her. "I do," says Horse. "But someone else loves you ten times more." Piglet's piggy curiosity is piqued by this answer, and she goes on to ask Sheep, Donkey, and Dog the same question. The quantity of love rises from one hundred times to one billion times more, until Piglet is tired of the question and the quest. When she returns to the sty, she asks shyly, "Hello, Papa. Do you love me?" Papa replies that he loves her cute little ears, her snub little nose, her curly-whirly tail, her little pink trotters, and her fat little tummy--"and, I love you best of all."

Piglet and Papa makes a good pair with the Sam McBratney classic Guess How Much I Love You and Storytime DVD, available as a tenth anniversary edition with free DVD for those dads whose love is over the moon!