My Daddy Rules the World: Poems about Dads

by Hope Anita Smith, Hope Anita Smith (Illustrator)

Overview

A picture book of poems that celebrate fathers from a two-time Coretta Scott King Honor—winning poet.

Who is your hero? Who’s your best friend?
Who says he loves you again and again?
Daddy!

Told through the voice of a child, Anita Hope Smith's My Daddy Rules the World collection of poems celebrates everyday displays of fatherly love, from guitar lessons and wrestling matches to bedtime stories, haircuts in the kitchen, and cuddling in bed. These heartwarming poems, together with bold folk-art-inspired images, capture the strength and beauty of the relationship between father and child.

A Christy Ottaviano Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250171573
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	05/16/2017
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	23 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Hope Anita Smith is the author of The Way a Door Closes and its sequel, Keeping the Night Watch. A professional story-teller, Hope teaches poetry-writing workshops to all grade levels. A native of Akron, Ohio, Ms. Smith now lives in Los Angeles, California.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/17/2017
In a lovely follow-up to Mother Poems, Smith uses 16 poems to celebrate precious, small, and meaningful moments between fathers and their children. Understated torn-paper collages present an array of families with featureless faces and a spectrum of skin tones: a newbie bike rider recognizes that her father supports her, even as he lets go: “And then I’m free, the wind is blowing,/ my dad let go, but I’m still going!” One boy’s busy father shows up for a twilight game of catch, another introduces his son to a favorite book: “Dad and I are readers./ We are word men, through and through.” Tender and honest, these poems pack a big emotional punch. Ages 4–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
An Arnold Adoff Poetry Award Winner
An NCTE Notable Poetry Book
A Kansas NEA Master List Selection

"16 poems celebrate precious, small, and meaningful moments between fathers and their children. . . Tender and honest, these poems pack a big emotional punch."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The line breaks and rhyme schemes make the poems accessible . . .the bulk of the emotion has to come from body positioning, posture, and the relations between figures on a page; Smith has mastered this, conveying so much with tilting heads and embracing arms. A masterful salute to fatherhood."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"The poems are accessible and a true celebration of fatherhood. . . A lovely addition to poetry collections that may just inspire kids to write verse of their own."—School Library Journal, starred review

"A heartwarming, lyrical collection . . . A first-rate pick for Father’s Day that celebrates dads and, as Smith notes in her dedication, “those who stand in the gap offering guidance, love, and support to children in need.”—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 04/01/2017
PreS-Gr 3—Dedicated to "every man 'fathering' a child," this volume spotlights the bond between dads and their kids. Written in a child's voice, the poems depict dads snoring, making breakfast, giving a haircut or guitar lesson, wrestling, playing catch, teaching a child to ride a bike, and reading. "Love Letter" is about writing to a military dad abroad: "My daddy—/he is far away./I wish him home/most every day." The one exception to the child-narrated voice is the call-and-response poem "Daddy!," which prompts listeners with questions: "Who do you like? Who do you love?/Daddy!/Who do you wrestle? Who do you shove?/Daddy! …. Who shows you the world from the top of his head?/Daddy!/Who tells you a story and puts you to bed?/Daddy!" The final selection, also the title poem, describes a near-perfect dad: "He helps me with my homework/and always gets it right./He teaches me 'most of the time,/it's better not to fight.'/…. Whenever I have a problem,/he knows just what to do:/'In order to solve anything,/be honest, kind, and true.' " The torn-paper collage illustrations depict faceless children and their dads sharing special moments together. The youngsters are boys and girls with a variety of skin and hair colors, thus representing every child—if only every child could have a father as loving and attentive as the ones portrayed in this book. The poems are accessible and a true celebration of fatherhood. Pair with Javaka Steptoe's award-winning In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall, another work of poetry and collage on the same subject. VERDICT A lovely addition to poetry collections that may just inspire kids to write verse of their own. [Ed. note: see Q&A with Smith, p. 22.]—Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools

School Library Journal

★ 2017-03-20
A collection of poetry that celebrates dads and all they do with and for their children.The 15 poems collected here focus mostly on the tiny moments that mean so much to children and are remembered years later—the Sunday breakfasts shared between parent and child, the way dad dances his daughter around on his feet, the wrestling matches and playing catch, learning to ride a two-wheeler, and reading books together. A few are more generic: comparing dad to various animals, dad's snoring, a cheer for dad, and one that looks at the many jobs dads have, though the narrator's has the best—he stays at home. The line breaks and rhyme schemes make the poems accessible to those reading aloud, and the diverse array of people depicted, most of color, and different combinations (several father-and-child pairs are not of the same race) ensure that readers will find at least one like themselves in these pages. The torn-paper collages (with a few added items for buttons, a watch face, and wire-rim glasses) with no inked details mean that faces are blank slates, so the bulk of the emotion has to come from body positioning, posture, and the relations between figures on a page; Smith has mastered this, conveying so much with tilting heads and embracing arms.A masterful salute to fatherhood. (Picture book/poetry. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews