My dad’s birthday is today so in honor of this exciting day, I asked readers and writers for books they liked to read with their fathers. [**NOTE: Moms can read all the books below too**]. The compilation below is based on their suggestions. One writer told me that reading with his dad was the one common language the two of them had during the writer’s teenage years. I’m sure others can say the same. The list below is broken down by age group and is—by no stretch of the imagination—complete. However, I found this TERRIFIC blog called Book Dads (www.bookdads.com) which focuses on books that show fatherhood in a positive light and also breaks down books by categories (e.g. Dads and Daughters, Dads and Sons, etc.), has author interviews, reviews, and more. Check it out for more wonderful suggestions. And please recommend some of your favorites. My high school list is focused on classics because that’s what I read with my dad, but if you have contemp books to suggest, please do.

Picture Books:

1. Knuffle Bunny (and others in this series) by Mo Willems
2. You Can Do Anything, Daddy by Michael Rex
3. The Naked Mole Rat by Mo Willems
4. No, David! By David Shannon (and other books in this series)
5. My Father is Taller Than a Tree by Joseph Bruchac

Elementary School/Middle School

1. The Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey
2. Danny and the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
3. Babe and Me (and others in this series) by Dan Gutman
4. The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Chris Singer
5. Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
6. White Fang by Jack London
7. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
8. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
9. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien
10. Old Yeller by Frederick Gipson
11. Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta
12. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
13. Holes by Louis Sachar

High School

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
2. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
5. 1984 by George Orwell
6. Animal Farm by George Orwell (this one and 1984 created lots of discussion because we originally came from the former Soviet Union so my dad shared how what he encountered during his childhood related to these books)
7. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

About The Author

Margie Gelbwasser has written for a variety of magazines including Writer's Digest, SELF, LHJ, Girl's Life, and NJ Monthly. Her first YA novel, INCONVENIENT, will be published by Flux in November 2010. She's currently at work on her second YA novel out by Flux in Fall 2011.  Read more about Margie Gelbwasser.