Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me

Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me is a heartfelt, wonderfully illustrated picture book that tells a painful yet inspirational story of how an absent parent can effect a child's life forever. This story is about a young boy who finds joy and happiness in a little game he and his father play every morning called "Knock Knock", where his father knocks on the boy's door in the morning and the boy pretends not to hear him until he comes in to say "I love you". One day, the "knock knocks" stop coming, and the boy is confused and sad when his father stops playing their game. After months of his father being gone, the boy writes him a letter asking him to come home because he still has so much to learn from him. Eventually, his father writes him a letter back and tells him many inspirational and loving words to help him grow as a person and as a man. In the end through the author's note, the reader realizes that the father's absence was because he had been incarcerated. This story really hit home for me not because I can relate to the story, but because it reminded me why reading is so important for children. Reading doesn't simply teach students things or make them more competent readers, but often times it also gives children something to relate to when they may not have someone or something to relate to at home. This book shows children who are hurting in the same way as the main character how they might deal with their emotions about having an absent parent. The illustrations in this book were amazing, almost 3D, and it really supported the story and the setting.

I would use this book in the classroom as an introduction to writing personal stories. Writing can often be very therapeutic for people going through sad or emotional times, and using this book as a model for either talking about your problems or writing about them is a great idea. In the book, although the boy felt upset and sometimes directionless after his father left, he learned a lot from his father's wise words that eventually helped him succeed in his future. This could be used to help students confront their feelings and channel it into writing a personal piece of their own to show what they went through and how they grew or learned from it. I would highly recommend this story to anyone, regardless of their age or their background. I believe it was a very worthy recipient of the Coretta Scott King award in 2014.

Beaty, D. (2013). Knock knock: My dad's dream for me. New York: Little, Brown and Company.