One evening, author Neil Gaiman's son was angry. Neil had said one of those things that parents say, like "isn't it time you were in bed." His son looked up at him, furious, and said, "I wish I didn't have a dad! I wish I had . . ." and then he stopped and thought, trying to think of what he would have instead of a father. Finally he said, "I wish I had a goldfish!" That conversation gave birth to Gaiman's book, "The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish." Superbly illustrated by Dave McKean, the book is a hilarious adventure of a son searching for the dad he swapped. The story line takes the son from friend to a friend of a friend to a friend . . . as they each swap his dad for something more interesting! This particular father reads his newspaper throughout the entire escapade.

“The Day I Swapped My Dad . . .” is a fun read for fathers’ and their children with the added bonus of the opportunity to talk about the importance of relationships over things, and what you enjoy doing together.

Country singer, Tim McGraw’s first children’s book, co-written with Tom Douglas hit the book stands this week. "My Little Girl," tells the story of a father — in a dark cowboy hat, of course — who spends a fun day with his little girl Katie doing ... nothing in particular. Just spending time with your children is an important part of fathering. Spending time reading together is the focus of FRED (Fathers Reading Every Day). FRED is designed to encourage fathers, grandfathers and other positive male role models to sit down and read with their children on a daily basis. The four-week program was originally designed by Texas A&M University. Not only does FRED work to increase child literacy but it also enhances father-child involvement and provides a daily ritual of bonding and learning.

During the month of November on both our English and Spanish websites we are encouraging dads to participate in FRED with their children. Those fathers who fill out a reading log and take a simple pre and post survey will be entered into drawings for fun gifts to share with their kids. If you work in a school or head start where dads may not have access to the website feel free to download the materials and distribute hard copies far and wide!

For those who live in the Denver area we are sponsoring a FRED event with several Denver Nuggets’ players and their children at the Blair-Caldwell Branch of the Denver Public Library (24th and Welton) from 1:30 – 3:30 on November 8th. Hope to see you there or better yet in your favorite chair with your son or daughter reading one of their favorite books together!