Daddy's Roommate

In my opinion, this is a great book. I feel this way mainly because of the illustrations and the point of view from which the story is told. I feel that the illustrations made the wording on the pages come alive. Being that each page only had a few words on it, the pictures helped me to visualize what the little boy was going through when his parents got divorced, and the environment in which he lived with his father. In addition, the illustrations helped me to understand that homosexuals live just as ordinary a lifestyle as do heterosexuals. I feel the story being told in first person is also crucial to its profound meaning. I was able to see how the boy felt about Frank, and him living with his father, from his point of view. Often, show more the voices of children who live with homosexuals are rarely heard, so I felt it to be significant that the voice of the little boy in this story was. The message of this story is gay acceptance. It is important for adults and children to embrace the many different shades the term “love” appears in. show less

I like this book because it talks about a difficult or confusing topic for children. This book is about a little boy's parents getting divorced and his dad then living with a man. I think the illustrations in this book are realistic and help the reader better understand the story. "Now theres somebody new at Daddy's house. Daddy and his roommate Frank live together." I like this line from the book because it shows how children might perceive two men living together originally. The book then goes on to explain that they are gay. The story is told in first person by the little boy, which I think is helpful to the reader. It helps the reader better understand and possibly connect to the story. When the little boy finds out that his dad is show more gay, he immediately accepts it without hesitation, which I think is extremely important. Homosexuality is a very sensitive subject and I believe it is very important to come off positive, especially in a children's picture book. "Being gay is just one more kind of love and love is the best kind of happiness." I absolutely love this quote and think it is a perfect example to be teaching children. The part of the book that I do not like is how the mother is portrayed in the text and illustrations. She comes off angry and annoyed. I believe this is inappropriate. This book demonstrates an important topic for all children to learn and understand and promotes acceptance. show less

The young boy in this story speaks about his parent’s divorce. He then realizes that his father and his male roommate do everything together. They take part in activities that are familiar to all other kinds of families. His father seems happy and the young boy sees that his father’s roommate is a lot like his own father. He sees that his father is happy and in love, and therefore he is happy.

This is a great way to introduce non-traditional families. There are more and more children with same sex parents andit is often underrepresented in children's books. This book will help students that belong to this community see themselves in the books.

Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: Primary Readers

Daddy's roommate by Michael Willhoite is a story of a boy whose parents get divorced and after, the father begins spending a lot of time with his new, male roommate. The story talks of all the very normal things the boy does with his dad and his dad's new roommate and near the end of the book, it is finally revealed that the roommate is indeed the father's boyfriend. The book does a wonderful job of showing the reader how having opposite sex parents versus same sex parents is really no different and that both loves are equal. This is a great book to use when talking about diversity an different types of families. This could relate to many kids who live with this as their reality and show other children that nothing is wrong with it. show more There is definitely a potential for problems with parents who don't want their child exposed of this kind of thing. The book addresses this issue very well and uses a very kind, normal sounding voice to do so. There is no form of hate or discrimination. I personally would use this book in my own classroom and would recommend to others. show less

At first glance I didn't know what this book could be about. After reading the first couple pages it became clear to me that this book was one meant for children who perhaps had fathers who turned out to be or just so happened to be gay. It was unclear at first, just telling the reader about what Daddy and his roommate do together and how it is completely normal. It wasn't until near the middle of the book that it just came our (pun intended) and said that his daddy was gay. I particularly liked this book because it is one that has probably helped many a child since it's creation understand what their family is going through. Children are always very aware of their family situation despite our attempts to hide it. While children are show more aware of what may be happening in their family, often times they do not understand what is happening or what that means for them. This book can be used to help explain what I'm sure is incredibly confusing and stressful for a child to go through. The illustrations in the book are very helpful if a little bland. They are good illustrations but nothing on par with "The Invisible Boy". What makes this book special is how it is both a story and a helpful tool for understanding. Not many books can boast about being such a thing. show less

“Daddy’s Roommate” is a great read that deals with the changing dynamics of families in today’s society. This book is about a young boy’s mother and father who get divorced. The boy later finds out that his father is gay. The message of this story is that love is the most important thing in a family. The author makes his point in several ways. The book is told from the boy’s point of view which I think made the story extremely relatable to younger children. You can tell that the boy seems rather confused at the situation between his father and his father’s roommate but remains happy because they both love him so much. I think that it was good that the author used the word “gay” and didn’t try to dance around the show more subject which is what younger children need. Another way that the author helped conveys his message was by going through an average day of the father and his partner. By doing this and showing specific “normal” activities that they do together kids can see that being gay is “normal.” Also, by having the mother support her ex-husbands relationship it further helped shows that their relationship was nothing to be ashamed of. My favorite quote that supports the author’s message came from the boy’s mom to him when she said “Being gay is just one more kind of love.” show less

I really enjoy this book because it informs readers about the gay community. The author portrays the gay community in a positive way. For example, the author wrote, "Being gay is just one more kind of love, and love is the best kind of happiness." There aren't many children books that include the LGBT community so I believe this is a great book and resource for children to get informed. The central message in this book is about having a gay parent.

Summary: The child's parents got a divorce the previous year. His dad got a new "roommate". They lived together, worked together, ate together, slept together, shaved together, and fought and made up with each other. The boy liked the new roommate because he would tell him jokes and riddles, show more read to him, make him sandwiches, and chase his nightmares away. On the weekends, the boy, his father, and their new roommate would do all sorts of fun activities together. The boy's mother thenn informed the boy that his father and the roommate were gay. The boy was okay with this because he knew that they were happy with each other, and the boy was happy himself! show less