Should there be a dad?

[LaurenHaupt]

Dad could be in the picture. Maybe he's just not home.

[Julehart1]

I definitely think that having a dad would make things more interesting. Maybe even including siblings and pets would be a good idea. Maybe in future installments there will be more characters added, including a dad. Or it’s possible that there is no dad in the picture. The dad could also be at work or the parents are divorced. It will be fun to see what ideas the author has.

[Cardinalsparrow]

I didn't really notice the dad character was missing at first but thinking about it now; there should be a dad. Even parent has a role to play, so should the dad in this case.

[Ashiyya Tariq]

It's a good idea to add a dad. But we don't feel any void in absence of this character. Maybe in next series the author would include this character.

[Surakshita-11]

I totally agree with this fact having dad in family is as important as having other family members and friends. It will make a great story of tony with his dad helping and playing with him

[Zain A Blade]

i read that dads are conspicuously absent in most African-American families, and the kids are raised mostly by their mothers or grandmothers. This could be a reason behind the omission of a father figure in the book. After all, if the target group is the black American community, then including a dad will only remind kids of what is missing in their lives. And that can't be a motivating factor to read the book to your kids.

[Sicily Joy]

Yes, that was the only piece I felt was missing from the story. Where was the other parent? I hope the dad appears in the other books. It would be different if the author was trying to portray a single mother but it seemed somewhat based on her own family life. Since she has other children and a husband, I hope they appear in the rest of the series.

[Cecilia_L]

I'm all for including hands-on dads as role models in any children's book. However, as someone who raised my three children as a single parent, I always appreciate positive portrayals of single-parent families, as well.

[Brittany J]

I don't think a dad should be added. So many children grow up with only one parent. Most books and children's shows depict a family as having a mother, a father, and the child. Of course, it's ideal to have both parents, but this is not always the case. I think normalizing this in children's books can actually help those children who only have a single parent. If they are always reading stories about two-parent families, they will have a harder time relating to the characters, or it might just raise questions about why one parent is gone and lead to the child feeling upset from the story. I think all children should read books that have many different types of families because that is the reality of the world.

[Samanthajayne12]

I never even considered this at first but I agree that a Dad would be a nice addition to the story. Espeically during any family trips the other series may have.

[Jgideon]

I agree that a dad is needed to make the story all-inclusive. It would also make it easier and more appropriate for fathers to read the story to their children.

[meadhbh]

Honestly I think it's not really that important either way to the book

[Riszell]

Dads play important roles in every kid's life and they should be a good example to their kids. Most dads are the kids' superhero so I guess the story would be more beautiful if there is a dad included as they are also role models the youngs look up to.

[kfwilson6]

Most children's stories tend to focus on the child and fail to represent the nucleus family. I agree with you that there should be a father or rather a father figure to represent a well knit family. On the contrary the absence of dad doesn't make the story detracting at all. In fact it takes a 'sharp reading eye' to notice there is no dad in the story.

These discussions really show what sharp readers there are on the review team. There were so many things about this book that other people pointed out that I didn't notice, even after looking through the book several times. I like the insights we can offer each other. I didn't notice some of the minor details of the illustrations, the color of Toni's skin, or the absence of Dad until the participants in the forums pointed them out.

On the down side, we can be quite a critical group, nitpicking every aspect of the books we discuss. But, if the author really wants a thorough analysis, we've got every detail covered!

[kfwilson6]

I agree that a dad is needed to make the story all-inclusive. It would also make it easier and more appropriate for fathers to read the story to their children.

Great point. If Dad is reading the story, the child might be more apt to realize, "hey, there is no dad in the book!"