Title: "A Father Like That"
Author: Pham Zolotow
Illustrated by: LeUyen Pham
Reading level: Ages 4-12
Grade: Kindergarten-Sixth
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins (April 24, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060278641
This story is about a little boy whose father leaves before he is born. He has never met his father nor has he ever had someone else try to take that place. He goes on imagine what it would be like if his father was here. He tells his mother that his father would walk with him down the street, play games with him, help washes the dishes after dinner, read him stories when he was sick, and many more father son ideas he can only dream of. He mother is listing to him tell her what is would be like to have his father here. His mother looks at him and responses "Ill tell you what, she says when I stop talking. I like that kind of father you're talking about. And in case he never comes, just remember when you grow up, you can be a father like that yourself (Zolotow)."
This story is a good story because it makes you feel for the character, it makes you think about what other ideas he could do with his dad. The main character had a problems because he was dealing with the fact that he has no father and what it would be like to have a father. His mother then tells him that if his father never comes back then he can be just like the father he never had. So he starts out with a problem and starts to over come it by knowing that when he becomes a father he can be the type of father he has always wanted. The author is using this story to express to everyone that not everyone has a mother and a father. Its showing others that some children struggle with the fact that their father or even mother is not apart of their live anymore. I know this is a great story to read to children in your classroom if you have a lot of single parent families. It could help children come to understand the meaning of single parent families and even all the different types of families there are out there.
The three literacy elements found in this story are allegory, allusion, and hyperbole. The allegory is in the whole story. Its a story that will help everyone better understand what is it like for a child who has no father. The little boy in the story images what it will be like to have a father and I know a lot of children can relate to this story and its a great one to read for all children to again see all the different types of families there are out there. The allusion is seen in the pictures you can see the little boys mind just thinking of what it would be like to have a father in his life, he dreams of all the fun activity's they would do together, and at the end of the book the very last picture is the little boy outside walking down the street. In this picture you can see allusion by the way he is thinking that he will be like the father her never had when he grows up.The last hyperbole is also in the story and the way the little boy talks about what his dad and him would do if he was around. He is over the top with some of his ideas like when he talks about how is father would just say "Why, sure all boys do" when it comes to the fact that the little boy talks to much in class. He makes the dad out to be like a best friend, which is great because that is the way he images his father would be if he was around.
The illustrations build on the text. Each pages is full of color, expression, and detail. They make you feel as if the father is always with the boy, its as if they are best friends and as if the boy has had his father in his life all along. The pictures give you a sense of warmth and happiness which I believe is what makes a story a great one.
A mini-lesson I would do with this book is talk about what is means to have a only a mother or a father. I would want to bring this story into my classroom when it comes to the topic of families. I also would use this story to let my children create their own idea of what they would want to be like as a parent when they grow up. Each child has said "When I grow up i'll let my children do that or this" so it would be fun to let the children dream up what they would be like as a parent.
This story is a good story because it makes you feel for the character, it makes you think about what other ideas he could do with his dad. The main character had a problems because he was dealing with the fact that he has no father and what it would be like to have a father. His mother then tells him that if his father never comes back then he can be just like the father he never had. So he starts out with a problem and starts to over come it by knowing that when he becomes a father he can be the type of father he has always wanted. The author is using this story to express to everyone that not everyone has a mother and a father. Its showing others that some children struggle with the fact that their father or even mother is not apart of their live anymore. I know this is a great story to read to children in your classroom if you have a lot of single parent families. It could help children come to understand the meaning of single parent families and even all the different types of families there are out there.
The three literacy elements found in this story are allegory, allusion, and hyperbole. The allegory is in the whole story. Its a story that will help everyone better understand what is it like for a child who has no father. The little boy in the story images what it will be like to have a father and I know a lot of children can relate to this story and its a great one to read for all children to again see all the different types of families there are out there. The allusion is seen in the pictures you can see the little boys mind just thinking of what it would be like to have a father in his life, he dreams of all the fun activity's they would do together, and at the end of the book the very last picture is the little boy outside walking down the street. In this picture you can see allusion by the way he is thinking that he will be like the father her never had when he grows up.The last hyperbole is also in the story and the way the little boy talks about what his dad and him would do if he was around. He is over the top with some of his ideas like when he talks about how is father would just say "Why, sure all boys do" when it comes to the fact that the little boy talks to much in class. He makes the dad out to be like a best friend, which is great because that is the way he images his father would be if he was around.
The illustrations build on the text. Each pages is full of color, expression, and detail. They make you feel as if the father is always with the boy, its as if they are best friends and as if the boy has had his father in his life all along. The pictures give you a sense of warmth and happiness which I believe is what makes a story a great one.
A mini-lesson I would do with this book is talk about what is means to have a only a mother or a father. I would want to bring this story into my classroom when it comes to the topic of families. I also would use this story to let my children create their own idea of what they would want to be like as a parent when they grow up. Each child has said "When I grow up i'll let my children do that or this" so it would be fun to let the children dream up what they would be like as a parent.
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