How to use this Page

Guest post from Holly Watson

My step dad came from an impoverished family. Because he made working and family a priority, he was never able to finish high school or go to college. However, he was a voracious reader. One of my earliest memories is of him reading to me as I took a bath. I remember sitting in the tepid bathwater and listening to him read Little House in the Big Woods. At the end of the first chapter, he laid the book down with a smile. I eagerly asked him to continue, and he responded that, if I wanted to know what happened next, I would have to read the book for myself.

That was all the encouragement I needed. I was in second grade by then and knew how to read pretty well, and I struggled through Laura’s stories of growing up in Wisconsin. After that, I became obsessed with reading. I read the Little House books, most of the Narnia series, and a child’s version of Pilgrim’s Progress. Anytime I would complain that I was bored, he would pack me and my sisters into the car, drive the short distance to the library, and turn us loose. Most of my childhood memories involve reading.

Education was a priority to my father, and he tried to convey that importance to us. Even our family vacations centered around historical tourist attractions , museums and other thought provoking sites. After I graduated high school, I didn’t go to college. I knew my parents were struggling financially, and I didn’t want to stress them with worries about tuition. However, I had an empty feeling as I watched my friends and classmates go off to their chosen schools. My father must have sensed this, because he sat me down and asked what I intended to do with my life. I just shrugged my shoulders.

He didn’t say anything then, but a few days later, he got a second job, doing janitorial work at an office building in the evenings. I started working and tried to forget my disappointment. When spring came, my father asked me again what I wanted to do with my life. I murmured something about working, but this time he cut me off. He asked if I wanted to go to college, and I hesitantly said yes. He then handed me brochures for the local community college and walked away.

With trepidation, I applied and was accepted. When I told my parents, they both beamed and told me they would help me out in any way possible. My father had put his education aside to help his mother and siblings, and he was now going to send his daughter to college; this made him happier than I had ever seen him.

Being a first generation college student was extremely difficult. I had no one to guide me through decisions or share stories of their own struggles, but I had my mother and father loving and supporting me in every way that they could. The day I walked the aisle for my AA in English, my father was there, glowing with pride and bragging about his college graduate daughter. When I graduated with my BA in Literature and Creative Writing, he was nearly giddy with excitement. Throughout the five years it took me to accomplish these achievements, my father worked three jobs so that I could focus on my studies.

Now, I am in graduate school studying Literature, and I know I wouldn’t be here were it not for the groundwor

Daddy’s Heroes: Unforgettable Sports Moments to Share With Children by Tom Garcia and Karun Naga (Illustrated by Jenifer Donnelly)

Review by Chris Singer

About the authors:

Tom Garcia was born in Salamanca, Mexico in 1973 and grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  He is an attorney and co-author of the Daddy’s Heroes children’s books series. Tom co-founded Daddy’s Heroes, Inc. in 2006 with Karun Naga in an effort to help parents share unforgettable sports moments with their children.  The concept for Daddy’s Heroes was inspired by Tom’s nightly bedtime routine with his young son, where he would share his passion for baseball by recounting his favorite moments in baseball history. Tom and his wife, Emily, live in Santa Barbara, California with their two children, Jack and Enna.

Karun Naga was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1975 and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and East Lansing, Michigan.  He is an entrepreneur and co-author of the Daddy’s Heroes children’s books series. Karun, an avid sports fan and former college baseball player, co-founded Daddy’s Heroes, Inc. in 2006 with Tom Garcia in an effort to help parents share unforgettable sports moments with their children.  Karun’s drive behind Daddy’s Heroes is fueled by his own enthusiasm for sharing his most cherished sports memories with his children and by the potential for making story time a more rewarding experience for millions of sports fans and their children. Karun and his wife, Haritha, live in Palo Alto, California with their twins, Arathi and Kushal, and dog Friday.

About the illustrator:

Jenifer Donnelly was born in Warren, Ohio and raised in Michigan and Pennsylvania. She graduated from LaRoche College, Pittsburgh, with a degree in Graphic Design. Her work experience includes design and fine art for many different clients, such as printers, advertising and design studios, magazine publications and government agencies. She embraced the changes in the graphics and printing industry during the evolution of desktop publishing. When not illustrating for Daddy’s Heroes, she is found creating fine art, working in watercolor, pastel, pencil, and oil. Jenifer lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with her husband and two teenage daughters, who still enjoy reading a good picture book.

About the series:

The goal of the Daddy’s Heroes book series is to foster stronger bonds between sports fans and their children. Retelling these unforgettable, historical sports moments will not only build these bonds, but will also help parents introduce their favorite sports to their children.

My take on the books:

Review by Chris Singer

About the author:

Michael Ferrari lives in Ohio, where he is a writer and a teacher.

BORN TO FLY won the Delacorte Yearling Prize for a first middle grade novel. Mr. Ferrari got the idea for BORN TO FLY at a WWII airshow, when he overheard a boy telling his little sister that girls could never be fighter pilots. He wrote the story for her, and his daughters.

About the book:

Born to Fly tells the story of eleven-year-old tomboy Bird McGill. Ever since she can remember, Bird has loved flying in small propeller airplanes with her mechanic dad. When the local airstrip is turned into a military flight school, Bird is in heaven. But when a young Japanese American student named Kenji Fujita joins Bird’s class, the entire school seems to be convinced that he’s a spy, or at the very least, that he and his uncle want the Japanese to win. Bird is wary of Kenji, not just because he’s Japanese, but because he steals her flight-related topic for a school report and leaves her to write about the deadly boring local marsh weed. But on Bird’s first trip to the marsh, she and Kenji accidentally discover real spy activity in the area. Bird realizes that Kenji is actually a stand-up guy—and she and Kenji begin an adventure that will shake the town and may even change the future of the United States.

My take on the book:

This is another in a string of fantastic middle reader novels I’ve come across recently. I picked up Born To Fly one evening after my daughter went to bed. After reading Ferrari’s fantastic opening few lines: “Just ’cause I was a girl in 1941, don’t think I was some sissy. Shoot, I saw stuff that would’ve made that bully Farley Peck pee right through his pants,” I didn’t put the book down until I finished it.

Born To Fly is what I would call a “Girls Can Be Heroes Too” book. Of course, I loved this and readers, especially middle-grade girls, will enjoy this story as well. Girls will definitely identify with the character of Bird, but middle-grade boys will also enjoy this fast-moving book because it has lots of action and suspense.

With all of these great qualities going for it already, Ferrari really scores with the valuable messages and themes expressed in the story. The historical context of WWII and racism against Japanese-Americans at that time provides an incredible backdrop for the story. The themes of sexism (Bird is a girl who wants to fly planes), racism (Kenji is called names like “Jap” and is automatically a suspect when some of the book’s events take place), bullying (Both Kenji and Bird are bullied fo

Review by Chris Singer

About the author:

Greg Wright is the founder and president of The Wright Track Consulting Company

About the book:

Like many boys, Greg Wright wanted to be around beautiful women when he grew up.  Then he learned the truth of “watch what you wish for.”  By 29, Greg was a motivational leader surrounded by gorgeous girls 24/7.

In his own home.

When faced with the reality of raising four beautiful daughters, he went into the woods to plan a strategy for being a successful dad and came back with a mission: Don’t Screw Up.

Daddy Dates is Greg’s funny and moving saga of how he intentionally pursued knowing his girls and in the process, figured out how to overcome the dad-daughter communication barrier, regardless of age or personality type.

This witty and relatable book poses the wildly original concept that should be a “duh” for most men–but isn’t: In order raise a confident woman-to-be, fathers should show their girls what it feels like when a man truly has her best interest at heart.

Just in time for Father’s Day 2011, the self-described “regular-Joe” shares his formula for how both married and single dads can go beyond Hi-Fiving to bridge the gender gap and better connect with his female child… no matter how seemingly close or estranged she may already by.

Daddy Dates is written in an entertain and highly original voice that will appeal to both men and women.  It is the kind of action-oriented “how to” material that guys enjoy, and will recommend to their friends.  It doesn’t matter how old you are, how much money you have, or whether you wear camo or cashmere– ever father, husband, son and brother can learn something from Greg Wright’s evocative and enlightening read.

Watch the book trailer: