|
Feburary
Storybooks for Fathers and Daughters
Dads, what storybooks are you reading to your young
daughters? Have you taken a closer look at the
messages in those books – messages about
father-daughter relationships. In your
daughters’ favorite books, what kind of
relationship do the dad and daughter have? Is dad
nothing more than a playmate or a “fix
it” repairman? Is dad the only breadwinner in
the family while mom raises the kids? Is mom
portrayed as the more nurturing, more
knowledgeable, and more involved parent –
especially in the daughter’s life? Is most of
the father’s time being spent with his son
instead of his daughter? Is the father spending any
time alone with just his daughter – without
mom or little brother ?
As a feminist psychologist, I invest many hours
looking for children’s books that portray
fathers being just as competent, as nurturing and
as involved in their daughter’s lives as
mothers – especially books that show fathers
and daughters enjoying themselves with one another
without other family members involved. These books
are few and far between. Here are ten of my
favorites:
Two Old Potatoes and Me – J. Coy, 2004,
Knopf
Give Her the River – M. Browne, 2004, Simon
& Schuster
A Twinkle in His Eye – Burton, 2000,
Shooting Start Publishing
Animal Dads – N. Collard, 2002, Houghton
Mifflin
The Dance – R. Evans, 1999, Simon &
Schuster
Daddy Will Be There – L. Grambling, 1996,
Greenwillow Books
Tiny’s Hat – A. Grifalconi, 1999,
Harper Collins.
After Charlotte’s Mom Died – C.
Spelman, 1999,
Night Shift Daddy – E. Spinelli, 2000,
Hyperion
I Live With Daddy – J. Vigna, 1997, Albert
Whitman & Co.
Send me an e-mail if you know of other
children’s books that portray fathers as
loving, competent, involved parents with their
daughters. nielsen@wfu.edu
©2008 Dr. Linda
Nielsen
See Books,
Issues,
Resources
* * *
It is easier for a father to have children than
for children to have a real father. Pope John
XXIII
Dr. Nielsen
has been teaching, counseling, conducting research
and writing about adolescents and father-daughter
relationships since 1970. A member of Phi Beta
Kappa and the recipient of the outstanding
graduate's award in teacher education from the
University of Tennessee in 1969, she taught and
counseled high school students for several years.
After earning a Master's Degree in Counseling and a
Doctorate in Educational and Adolescent Psychology,
she joined the faculty of Wake Forest University in
1974. Her grants and awards include the Outstanding
Article Award in 1980 from the U.S. Center for
Women Scholars and a postdoctoral fellowship from
the American Association of University Women. For
the past fifteen years she has focused primarily on
father-daughter relationships with a special
emphasis on divorced fathers and their daughters.
Her work has been cited in the "Wall Street
Journal" as well as in popular magzines such as
"Cosmopolitan", and shared through television and
radio interviews..
In 1991 she created her "Fathers
& Daughters" course - the only college course
in the country that focuses exclusively on
father-daughter relationships. In addition to
having written several dozen articles for journals
such as the "Harvard Educational Review" and the
"Journal of Divorce & Remarriage", Dr. Nielsen
has written three books: How to Motivate
Adolescents (Prentice Hall) and Adolescence: A
Contemporary View (Harcourt Brace) which sold more
than 60,000 copies and was adopted by hundreds of
universities throughout the country and abroad
between 1986-1996. Her third book, Embracing
Your Father: Creating the Relationship You Want
with Your Dad was
published in April, 2004. www.wfu.edu/~nielsen
or E-Mail
* * *
Contact
Us |
Disclaimer
| Privacy
Statement
Menstuff®
Directory
Menstuff® is a registered trademark of Gordon
Clay
©1996-2023, Gordon Clay
|
