Waitin' for the Weekend: Saturday with Daddy

SATURDAY MORNINGS I'M ALWAYS THE FIRST TO WAKE UP!

Waking up Mom and Dad, dressing to the smell of coffee, having a leisurely breakfast, is just the beginning of the best day of the week--because Saturday is a special day, the day a  boy and his dad do all the things that they love to do together.

Singing their favorite songs, they drive down to Patel's Market for wieners and to the Handy Hardware Store, where they get a new barbeque grill and head home for the promised hot dog dinner.  The boy "helps" Dad put it together, holding the big wrench while Dad tightens the screws.

And when they're done, it's time to break in that barby, grilling the best hot dogs yet!

ON SATURDAY, I WEAR THE SAME SORT OF APRON AS DAD!

Mom adds her special side dishes to the feast, and then it's time for a snooze in the hammock with Dad!

Even pachyderms can be paternal, and every dad gets his due in Dan Andreason's Saturday with Daddy (Henry Holt, 2013). Andreason's jolly father-and-son story, featuring a family, who, despite artist Andreason's use of blue for the elephant characters, is definitely not in a blue mood, just right for young preschoolers to celebrate doing those Saturday duties with dad. Read this one along with Robin Pulver's insightful Saturday Is Dadurday, in which a mom and dad play tag team to keep the fun in Saturday even when work duties intervene (see review here.)

When We Were Very Young: When Stella Was Very, Very Small by Marie-Louise Gay

When Stella was very, very small, she thought she was a turtle....

When Stella was very, very small, words looked like ants running off the pages.

Every night before going to bed, Stella listened to the trees talking.

They told stories about holding up the sky with their branches and tickling the bellies of the smallest clouds..

In her latest in the Stella series, When Stella Was Very, Very Small, author/illustrator Marie-Louise Gay gives the reader a peek back in time to Stella's very first years, where small but filled with creative imagination, Stella is very much herself from the beginning. In this exquisitely illustrated little book, we see the world through the eyes of the very young, when the real and the fantastic are pleasantly intertwined. The sweetness of the small Stella's world is now to be shared with her little brother Sam.

When Stella was very, very small, she explored the great tropical jungle behind her house. There she saw a ferocious man-eating tiger and joined slithering snakes.

Now Stella is big. The ants in her books have become words, and the words have become stories.

Now Stella can read these stories to her little brother Sam.

Other rave-reviewed books starring the young Stella include Stella: Star of the Sea, Stella, Queen of the Snow, Stella, Fairy of the Forest, and Stella, Princess of the Sky, Sam, too, has his own books--Good Morning Sam (Stella), What Are You Doing, Sam?, and Good Night Sam (Stella). These sweet and simple stories are great for sharing with a younger and an older child.

Who's on First? Say Daddy by Michael Shoulders

On the day I was born, Mother welcomed me into the world with tears of joy and read me my first book.

She said, "This is a book about life--and how wonderful love is."

When Mother closed the last page, she held me close and whispered, "Say Mommy, say Mommy!" She hoped "Mommy" would be my first word.

Baby Bear is a much-loved child, with an extended family just waiting to hold him, read him a story, and teach him his first word. Daddy Bear has his own first storybook ready, one about promises and how daddies make them come true. "Say Daddy, say Daddy," he smiles, hoping that "Daddy" would be my first word.

Brother Bear, Aunt Grace Bear, Uncle Roy Bear, and Grandma Bear all bring their own chosen books to read to Baby, each with its own wonderful message, and each followed by a whispered suggestion: "Say Brother," "Say Grace," "Say Uncle." Even wise Grandma Bear has the same agenda:

When Grandma rocked me for the first time..., she said, "This is a book about families--and how they celebrate our joys and hug our tears away. .... A family's love is forever.

Say Nana! say Nana!"

But when his first birthday rolls around and Baby Bear opens his first gift, he instinctively knows how to satisfy his kin without slighting anyone.

"BOOK!" I said.

"What's that I hear?" Daddy asked.

"BOOK!! I said again.

Everybody cheered. Everybody danced.

"Now," said Daddy, "say DADDY!"

Daddy just won't give up!

Author Michael Shoulders' Say Daddy! (Picture Books) (Sleeping Bear Press, 2008) is a book for Father's Day which sweetly includes the whole family, with their affection and aspirations for the new child among them. Artist Teri Weidner's soft, charming illustrations, from the pregnant couple walking nervously to the hospital to the loving storytime scenes with Daddy, Brother, Auntie, Uncle, and Grandma as the baby grows are the essence of family love. A strong story for Father's Day or for any day in the year.

Michael Shoulders is also the author of V Is For Volunteer: A Tennessee Alphabet Edition 1. (Discover America State By State. Alphabet Series) and D Is for Drum: A Native American Alphabet (Sleeping Bear Alphabets).