FAVORITE LITERARY FATHERS

Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance. 

~Ruth E. Renkel 

Hop On Pop (Dr. Seuss)

As a follow-up to my Mother's Day "Most Memorable Literary Mothers", here are my Favorite Literary Fathers from children's literature...

My Top 10, in no particular order:

Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

I just had to post this wonderful photo of Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch
from the film Adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird [source]

"Atticus, he was real nice" 

"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them." 

"Papa" from Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me (Eric Carle)

But no matter how much she stretched, she could not touch the moon.
"Papa", said Monica to her father, "please get the moon for me."

 "Here", said Papa to Monica.  "I have the Moon for you."

Charles Ingalls, "Pa", from the Little House books (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

Art by Helen Sewell, 1940 - source

"It can't beat us!" Pa said. 

"Can't it, Pa?" Laura asked stupidly. 

"No," said Pa. "It's got to quit sometime and we don't. It can't lick us. 
We won't give up." 

Then Laura felt a warmth inside her. It was very small but it was strong. It was steady, like a tiny light in the dark, and it burned very low but no winds could make it flicker because it would not give up.

King Babar, Father of triplets! from Babar and His Children (Jean de Brunhoff)

Babar was peacefully fishing and thought the children were playing. As he hears this desperate cry for help, he understands that something serious must have happened. He stands up and trumpets angrily when he sees the horrible crocodile...

Now everyone is asleep. Babar and Celeste will go to bed too. They are gradually calming down after all these exciting events.

"Truly it is not easy to bring up a family," sighs Babar. "But how nice the babies are! I wouldn't know how to get along without them anymore."

The Daddy from Knuffle Bunny (Mo Willems)

"Trixie and her daddy went down the street, through the park, past the school, and into the laundromat...But on the way home, Trixie realized something..."

Mr. Weasley, from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)

source

Ron: "Yeah, Dad's crazy about everything to do with Muggles; our shed's full of Muggle stuff. He takes it apart, puts spells on it, and puts it back together again. If he raided our house he'd have to put himself under arrest. It drives Mum mad." 

Frank B. Gilbreth Sr, "Dad", in Cheaper by the Dozen (Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey)

"Dad took moving pictures of us children washing dishes, so that he could figure out how we could reduce our motions and thus hurry through the task. Irregular jobs, such as painting the back porch or removing a stump from the front lawn, were awarded on a low-bid basis. Each child who wanted extra pocket money submitted a sealed bid saying what he would do the job for. The lowest bidder got the contract." 

Mr. Moody -"Father"- from Little Britches, Father and I Were Ranchers (Ralph Moody)

"I wish I knew how Father was able to say things so as to make you remember every word of it. If I could remember everything the way I remember the things Father told me, maybe I could be as smart a man as he was." (read my post about this wonderful book here.)

Captain Crewe, "Papa", from A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

Illustration by Ethel Franklin Betts

Then he went with Sara into her little sitting-room and they bade each other good-by. Sara sat on his knee and held the lapels of his coat in her small hands, and looked long and hard at his face. 

 “Are you learning me by heart, little Sara,” he said, stroking her hair. 

 “No,” she answered. “I know you by heart. You are inside my heart.” 

And they put their arms round each other and kissed as if they would never let each other go. 

Mr. Penderwick from The Penderwicks Series (Jeanne Birdsall)

“...even a tiny bit of deceit is dishonorable when it's used for selfish or cowardly reasons." 

 - Mr. Penderwick”

"HAPPY FATHERS DAY!", and thanks again to all my Facebook followers for your wonderful recommendations!

It was so hard to pick my Top 10 Literary Dads - here are a few more fathers that I had to give an "Honorable Mention" to:
Lavrans Bjorgulfsson, Kristin Lavransdatter's father (trilogy by Sigrid Undset).  Was there ever a more long suffering father? If you've not read this series, set in medieval Norway, put it on your summer reading list! (YA-Adult Fiction)

Mr. March, "Father" from Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) Because of the war, he's an "absentee father" for much of the book, adored by his wife and daughters;

Carson Drew,"Dad", from the Nancy Drew series - a widower and respected lawyer - he often enlists Nancy's sleuthing help with his cases.
Mr. Bennet, from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - his style is a bit sarcastic and passive aggressive, but seriously, considering he had to manage a household of five girls and one ridiculous wife, he did pretty well, don't you think?

These Dads might make next year's list:
William, the imperfect father from Danny the Champion of the World (Roald Dahl) - I can't personally recommend this book until I've read it (not sure how I missed it, since my oldest son is a huge fan of anything by Mr. Dahl!).  It was nominated by My Book Corner. You can read an interesting and comprehensive review of the book here by Mari Ness at tor.com.
Moominpappa (The Moomin Dad) from Tove Jansson's Moomin series.  I have got to get my hands on these books - have had them recommended so many times!

My Real Life Dad:
This post is dedicated to my own father, who passed away ago barely one year ago.  You can read my tribute to him, here.  An author, editor, musician, and priest, he was first of all a devoted husband to my mom and a loving dad to me and my five siblings.  A list of his books can be found here on Amazon.

Can't Get Enough Horse Stories!

I know it's barely been a month since my War Horse post, but I am beyond excited about a discovery I just made about another famous thoroughbred...

An audio book of Come on Seabiscuit! from two of my favorite storytellers:  author Ralph Moody (1898–1982), who also wrote the Little Britches books, and narrator Jim Weiss (Greathall Storytelling Recordings).  You can download the audio book here, from Learn Out Loud.com, or order the CD (2003) here, from Greathall.

Available here.

As a young girl, I went through a "horse phase" of literature and movies: Billy and Blaze, My Friend Flicka, Misty of Chincoteague, National Velvet, Black Beauty, and The Black Stallion. But somehow, I missed the book Come On Seabiscuit - maybe because I wasn't as interested in racing as I was in horses. 

As an adult, I saw the movie Seabiscuit and have gone to a racetrack once (at Del Mar, "where the surf meets the turf"), and let me tell you, it was fun and exciting to see horse racing live and up close.  I hope I can go again soon! 

Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire) rides the title horse
 in the film adaptation of "Seabiscuit."source

The original book about Seabiscuit, written in 1963, was illustrated by Robert Riger, and recently returned to print by the University of Nebraska Press.

Look at this cute vintage edition, available on Etsy, here.

Description (Publisher's Weekly): Long before Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" became a bestseller for adults, Moody's book (which is referenced in Hillenbrand's work) introduced the great racehorse to a younger audience. First published in 1963, Moody's title has recently experienced a resurgence, thanks to the more recent title and the feature film it inspired. Noted children's storyteller Weiss confidently takes the reins here, tracing the thoroughbred from his humble, knobby-kneed beginnings, through periods of doubt and scorn as expressed by his early owners to his triumph as one of the biggest-hearted racers in history. Weiss immediately assumes his typical leisurely pacing, drawing listeners in by capturing the flavor of historic details and setting the stage for exciting races, including the ultimate contest against his rival, Triple Crown winner War Admiral. This well-rounded selection is bound to captivate horse fans, sports fans and anyone who enjoys being wowed by a good story. Ages 8-up. 

I am a huge fan of Ralph Moody's Little Britches books - honestly, I can't recommend them highly enough!  You can read my past post about Ralph Moody here. Jim Weiss is a master story teller that I've highlighted on my blog several times - here - and I'm thrilled to know he recorded this wonderful story.

Go to: Seabiscuit American Experience WGBH | PBS to watch the online documentary about this extraordinary horse.

FAMILY READ ALOUD: LITTLE BRITCHES

“Ralph Moody's books should be read aloud in every family circle in America” — Sterling North.


This treasure is not to be missed!  During a recent stay at my sister's house, my 10- and 12-year old nephew and niece told me I had to read and review one of their family's favorite read alouds, LITTLE BRITCHES, by Ralph Moody, for my blog.  Inspired by their excitement (and the fact that another of my blog readers had also recommended this book), I started it immediately.

LITTLE BRITCHES: Father and I Were Ranchers, is the recounting -- by a boy -- of simpler times living on a ranch in Colorado in the early 1900's; but like the LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE books, simpler doesn't mean easier.  The tremendous difficulties this family faced and overcame are unfathomable by today's modern standards, but weren't all that out of the ordinary for families living out West a hundred years ago!

Denver & RioGrande Railroad

The book's author and main character, Ralph Moody, was the second of six children born in New Hampshire to Charles and Mary Moody.  The story begins in 1906, when Ralph is eight. His family buys a small ranch (sight unseen) in Colorado, hoping the dry climate will ease the condition of the father's tuberculosis. The farmhouse is in such bad shambles that Charles and Ralph are forced to spend many days scavenging for materials.  While they make repairs, the rest of the family lives in a Denver hotel. On the day the family finally takes the train to their new home, their two horses are frightened away by coyotes and become entangled on a railway trestle. So begin the adventures and life lessons that Ralph recalls more than forty years later.

The main theme of the book is the deep love and trust between a father and son, with some humor, lots of hard work, school mischief, a tornado, horses, cowboys, and roundups thrown in. (Boys, especially, will love this book.)

Colorado roundup

A true hero, Ralph is not perfect, and is always learning from his mistakes.  You can feel the joy in Moody's retelling of his childhood days, as well as the ache in his heart when recalls his patient father..."I wish I knew how Father was able to say things so as to make you remember every word of it.  If I could remember everything the way I remember the things Father told me, maybe I could be as smart a man as he was."

I was riveted throughout the whole book and shed tears at the end. (Don't worry, the gripping story continues in the next book of the series: MAN OF THE FAMILY). I loved LITTLE BRITCHES because without being overly sentimental, it relates the gallantry, love, and perseverance of families who settled some of the most challenging frontiers of our country.

"My goal in writing is to leave a record of the rural way of life in this country during the early part of the 20th century, and to point up the values of the era which I feel that we, as a people, are letting slip away from us." -Ralph Owen Moody


Source for this post: Littleton History.

Go to Beautiful Feet Books for information about all the books in the series, for 3rd grade and up.  (Note about the language:  the cowboys and some of the ranchers use a bit of rough language that is realistic to the time, but which can easily be edited, if you're not comfortable with that during family read aloud time.)