Daddy, Papa, and Me

This winsome little board-book features a cheerful toddler spending the day with his two fathers: playing music together, dressing in costumes, and having tea with his stuffed animals. Lesléa Newman's rhyming text - "Daddy wears a shiny crown. Papa dresses like a clown. Daddy's plane goes zoom, zoom, zoom! Papa's car goes vroom vroom vroom!" - is ideal for reading aloud, and Carol Thompson's adorable illustrations accentuate the fun in each scene.

As mentioned in my review of Mommy, Mama, and Me, I am always on the look-out for children's books which portray same-sex parents in a positive and natural light, without becoming too preachy, and Daddy, Papa, and Me certainly qualifies! I'm particularly thrilled that it's a board-book, and show more meant for very young children, as there is such a dearth of good early-childhood books in this vein! A wonderful gift for any toddler, whether the child of same-sex parents or not! show less

Daddy, Papa, and Me are a family of two dads and their son. It is a cute story that shows that even of the family has two fathers, they are still the same as any other family. I really enjoyed that the author did not have the dads as a stereotypical gay father, but that they were both doing things that men and women would do.

A lovely little book by Leslea Newman about a boy's fun day with both of his dads.

Yes, his parents are gay but that fact is not what the story is about. Its not about how kids react to him having two dads, how he came to be born, what others say to him or how conflicted he feels about his parents. No, this book is not condescending or meant to make a big point about his dads like a few children's stories that I have read in the past. I feel that its meant to be a nice picture book telling a story that kids would enjoy being read to them. No big fuss about his dads, just the normal playtime between parents and child. And that is the book's charm.

But lets not forget that this board book is written with great rhythm and rhyme that is just show more meant to be read allowed. For example " Papa and I both drum,drum,drum. Daddy and I both strum,strum, strum!" Then there are the gorgeous pictures, well drawn and could tell the story without the words. Great for a child that can't read and wants to know whats going on. This board-book is well worth the five stars I'm giving it. show less

Our 2-year-old really likes this book. I think it's great timing for her to get into it because she is also getting really into family units right now so I am happy she'll be seeing that not everyone has the same family composition. We also have Mommy, Mama, and Me.

Daddy, Papa, and Me
This book is about two male dads and them raising their child. The child plays with both and does different things with them throughout the day. The child bakes with one throws with another and they play the day away. I liked this book for three main reasons. One reason was it was about circumstances that books rarely decide to touch. Whether the two dads were together or just lived together wasn’t said but most people get all sensitive over the idea of same sex parents. I thought it was cool that this author was willing to address that in a book and made me like the book more because it was unique. Another reason that I liked the book was the pictures were very friendly and fun. The pictures made me feel happy and show more I like to feel happy when I am reading a book. The third and final reason that I liked the book was it presented a good message. That message is that two dads can have just as much fun as any other family can. It doesn’t have to do with gender and that was a cool message to give. In conclusion I liked the book because the story was unique, the pictures were friendly, and the book had a good message. show less

Two male parents raise a child and do daily activities. The normal actions within the book may help a child who was adopted or within a family as such feel more included in reading. It is important how this book shows dads too can clean, dress up, sew, and give equal love and affection as moms do. I love the pictures and how the little boy is so unaffected by this difference he smiles and calls them dad and papa.

"As the title indicates, a smiling tot describes his role within a nurturing two-dad family. In rhyming text, “Daddy helps me paint the sky. / Papa helps me bake a pie,” and so on till bedtime. Thompson provides warm, mixed-media illustrations of the happy trio against clean white backgrounds as they play and keep house together. Together with the corresponding Mommy, Mama, and Me (ISBN: 978-1-58246-263-9), it gives children with single-sex parents validation of their family structures in a healthy, positive way. Although it’s not mentioned in the text, the illustrations in each one gently point to mixed-race households as well. Toddlers with two moms or two dads don’t care about gender politics, they care about love, and this show more is what these two books give them. (12-36 mos.)" www.kirkusreviews.com show less