Sixteen. That’s the current number of bookshelves in my family’s home, and each one is packed full of books spanning numerous genres. This is not counting the closet full of my sister’s book collection or my personal stash (40 boxes’ worth) in the storage room. (Clearly, we have a problem.) During my research in June for the monthly Children’s Literature Supplement I write for the Washington Review of Books, I searched all of these shelves, looking for children’s books that featured strong fathers. To my shock, I could find only three (though a fourth and a fifth occurred to me later).
Before anyone starts protesting, let me define my terms. My criterion was simple: The story had to have a biological father who played more than a passing role in the tale. Little Women? The girls’ father appears only in the last few pages. Anne of Green Gables? Matthew is incredibly father-like, but not biologically related. The Willoughbys? Forget it. In the end, my short list contained these four titles/series:
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