Super Dad: How Dads Help Grow Readers

Every year, I buy my husband a book about dads for Father’s Day that he can enjoy with our boys.  It’s a Father’s Day Book Giving Tradition I started when my first son was born three years ago.  As I was thinking about which book to buy my husband (aka Super Dad) for Father’s Day this year, I couldn’t stop smiling at all the memories I have of my husband reading with our children.

On the same day that I was reminiscing, Zoobean and The Good Men Project contacted me about a campaign they were working on called #DadsRead.  They were looking for bloggers to celebrate, support and encourage dads who read with kids.

Full Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links.  Your support of Growing Book by Book is greatly appreciated.

So, today I want to share some of the things my husband does that help nurture our children’s literacy growth.  I hope that some of the ideas will inspire you to acknowledge and celebrate dads and all readers in your child’s life.

Be a Super Dad Reader

Ideas and Tips

1.  We all like to read our favorite books.  It’s so neat to see which books each family member loves to read over and over again.  I’m so appreciative that my husband enjoys reading Disney movie realted books, bathroom humor stories and very detailed oriented books because those really aren’t my cup of tea.

2.  When I asked my husband which books he loved to read the most to the boys, this is the list he gave me.

Hickory Dickory Dock

My Truck is Stuck

Stick Man

The Gingerbread Boy

3.  Andy is a great storyteller even though he would probably say that he is not.  Over the past few years, his skills have really improved with practice.  His stories are generally much more silly than mine.  They are pretty adventurous too.  Many times he will share parts of his work day in this tales.  The boys also really like it when he tells tales about fixing things around the house.

4.  My husband generally goes to the library with us every week.  He reads with the kids at the library.  They boys get to see Daddy find books that he wants to read too.  These are generally comic books or as he likes to call them, “young adult graphic novels”.

5.  Andy also enjoys putting ABC puzzles together with the kids.  I will often hear him “quizzing” the boys about which letter comes next.

6.  When I asked him what piece of advice he would give dads about reading he said, “Estimate the amount of patience you need and then multiply it by 10.”  It is true that you need a lot of patience with little ones for just about any activity!

7.  The thing that I love the most of all is that my husband supports my passion for books, reading and writing.  He is fully supportive of all the projects that we do with the kids, my blogging and the constant flow of books that appear in our house!

My family is so lucky to have super dad role model who shares his appreciation for reading with his kids!

What great things have you seen dads do to support reading with children?  Please share in the comments or tweet with the hashtag #DadsRead .

You might also be interested in reading the post I wrote about being the mom of a growing reader!

Don’t miss any great posts from Growing Book by Book.  Sign up for email updates here.