Dads on Books

Mike and David struggle with the calendar but successfully locate Danny and the Dinosaur in David’s attic, aka Narnia. This "50sy" classic features a dinosaur that fluctuates from "row-house sized" to "lamp-post thin". The Dads explore the Syd Hoff-ance—the 27-year gap between sequels—and David’s 2055 "heaven" debut.  They close with "killer" jokes about —nope, note telling and still not telling. ...

Mike and David have a rockin’ conversation about Sandra Boynton’s Going to Bed Book . WARNING: The animals do something CRAZY before going to bed!! You were warned. And they will they will rock you(r kids to sleep)! Mike and David deal with grammactical (sic) errors, math is hard, and politics? (No). There's also an epiphany about a hippo—hippiphany?—about who—whom?!—is brushing their teeth. No bu...

In our first ever year-end wrap up, Mike and David talk about a book they didn’t necessarily love, but then discovered that they loved a lot about it and then discovered in an epiphany kinda way that they DO like it as David did some inadvertent research.  Mike and David's neologism du semaine: (new word of the week): Millustrations! Speaking of which, it's a great book for encouraging young boys...

Lots of fun as the Dads talk about The Story of the Wooden Coin , our first Christmas book—well, the first Christmas book at Christmas time. David dances on rhythm whatever that means; Mike chose the Hanukkah book, so, naturally, since David is Catholic, Mike chooses the Christmas book—wait, what?! Also, it’s our second episode in a row to reference Lake Placid 1980. A season of Miracles.  Warning...

In our first holiday episode—well, at least our first episode on a book about a holiday around the same time that the holiday that the book is about falls—anyway here’s our first book about Hanukkah: All about Hanukkah by Judyth Groner and Madeline Wikler, illustrated by Kinny Kreiswirth.  Everything you wanted to know about Hanukkah and so much more! Among other things, David doesn't start at the...

Holy carp! this is our 30th episode and at this moment we have 988 listens!! Mike and David return to short books—board books even!—with Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann, and they are so excited about good and night being two words and the comma in the title!! The Dads discuss the nods to Goodnight Moon including the ever-present mouse and the ever-present, or almost always ever-present ballo...

We get to part two of our conversation with My Weird School series (and many many other silly and some not silly books) Dan Gutman. Our surprise guest shows up. Will we find  Dr. Carbles? Or his marbles? Take a listen and find out. Bonus stuff:   Dan’s writing tips for young (and old) aspiring writers: Start with “what if?” and add imagination. What if Castro became an Astro? Get ‘em with the firs...

Mike and David welcome their first non-daughter guest, Dan Gutman, the nutman, author of the My Weird(er and erestEST...) School Series(esEST?), and the recently released The Picasso Curse and OH SOOO many more. Dan discusses his “What if” theory of writing (What if Castro became an Astro?, What if Picasso became an Queso) and denies VEHEMENTLY any involvement in the recent Louvre heist. We discov...

The "Dads on Books" welcomed Lucy Patrick, who selected a copy of the 1947 classic, Good Night Moon . Lucy chose her sticky shredded copy of the book mostly because the mouse is "really cute". The dads, with a lot of help from brilliant Lucy, calculate that it took the little bunny a wopping 70 minutes to finally fall asleep. They debated whether the pages stuck together from "peas and tea", discu...

Another daughter, another series! David’s Sarah and Warrior Cats’s Into the Wild ! by Erin “faux” Hunter. Mike reads the wrong book. Again. And is lost. David reads the right book. Again. And is lost. Sarah is not lost and finds the Dads. It’s a wild wonderful world of cat clans and hyphens and blood-beats. This epic tale is so huge that Sarah is currently devouring the 34th book, proving that cat...

Mike and David return to totally toddler tomes—fewer words, no chapters, and more pictures with one of their favorite and fun authors award-garnering Mo Willems. We're talking about illustrious, illylu—pictures again. SPOILER ALERT—We love the art! So simple, yet so profound with an hint of/ notes of cranberry and sage. And David messes up his animals. Again. Where’s the pigeon?! On his head? What...

In the third “Since we are Dads on Books, we have daughters, and they can be Guests!“ episode, Mike’s daughter Ruby joins us with one of her favorite books—it's teacher and school librarian approved!!—and our first graphic novel, El Deafo by CeCe Bell. We touch on a mashup of Little House and the Waltons, a German version of the muppets (DasMuppetz), Grease (🎼tell me more, tell me more! 🎶), and...

This time there’s someone next to David—his daughter Delaney! Mike and David welcome their second guest. Ever. We delve into the wonderful world of Percy Jackson. WARNING: this book has no pictures!! And is long. Longer than our previous reads. And read the chapter titles first. Trust us. Trust her. From accidental teacher vaporization to taking a zebra to Vegas or a god buying us a cheeseburger,...

Mike and David talk about "Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus" by Barbara Park. Let's just say they're not on board with this one--a first! While there's some fun:  Mike likes that it's made of paper and when he learned that "a relief is when your stomach doesn't feel squeezy anymore." And David liked STEWED TOMATOES!! this one just isn't their can of tea. Looking for an episode we touched o...

Mike and David get flat with Stanley! Mike discovers him in a book store in Ohio, and David gets a blast from his past with his nephew's Flat Stanley Project—Flat Stanley was a book?! Travel through time as Mike and David try to figure out when the heck the book was written. 1944? 1964? LANGUAGE WARNING!! Old timey words like “gosh”, “heavens”, and “darnedist” are heavily used. Or at least referre...

Get ready for a "pink-tastic" episode with Mike and David, the Dads on Books ! Fresh off Podcast Movement (#pm25) , they dove into Pinkalicious . Mike "forgot" the plot, so he rediscovered the joy of her pink transformation. They loved Daddy's "tired finger" and the book's cool collage illustrations. Plus, they had a "comma-n" good time discussing punctuation, especially the ellipsis overuse by th...

Mike and David welcome their first guest. EVER. Mike's daughter and brand new college student Stella who read Ivy and Bean as a child and--spoiler alert--still loves it!! Stella doesn't miss a bean--beat as she dives in to the normal dad banter and tangents on improv, prepositions, and Steve Carrell. Stella brings unexpectedly expected "sass" to the discussion, including (but not limited to) calli...

The Dads on Books, Mike and David, chug along discussing The Little Engine That Could , proving they "think they can" podcast! David chose the book, then, like a lost toy, couldn't quite recall why. Mike, however, remembers the 1900s, but not why he went into the kitchen! They explore old-timey art (complete with hyphens!), discover Watty Piper's secret identity, and dissect anthropomorphic trains...

Welcome to Dads on Books, where Mike and David FINALLY hit record and make an episode after 40 minutes of talking about "random things." They immediately forgot everything. (We blame Blockbuster's brain-erasing technology). Rob Reiff started last week's "Little House in the Big Woods" episode accidentally, in his pocket, and has to rewind it like a cassette tape to listen again. Finally touching o...

This episode of Dads on Books sees Mike and David finally hit record after a legendary hour-and-a-half pre-show chat! They dive into "Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder?", discussing "Cliffnotes"  and hilarious plot spoilers like Pa pouring lead bullets. Learn about Laura's supposedly "easy life" with Almanzo, when she marries up. The dads also debate burning wardrobes for fuel, their future as authors...

This is my boss, Mike & David, we're not millionaires, but we are a heck of 2 guys... In the latest episode of Dads on Books, we explore the decadence of Fancy Nancy. Nostalgia was on our minds as we careened towards a cliff edge of the Gogos, Hart to Hart, and many other things from the 80s that we say twice. Join us for a tear-filled episode of silliness. Looking for an episode we touched on...

This week David and Mike head "Underground" to learn about how a city's underground systems work. I know, sounds like a snooze-fest. BUT, not only is there a lot to learn about city building, there are little pieces of humor in the pictures that will draw you in. We really dig this intriguing book by another David, David Macauley. Looking for an episode we touched on in this one? How about: Little...

Squeektastically Sqeektastic! David and Mike could squeek away for hours about Humphrey (oui oui oui!), but... spoiler alert! (There aren't any real spoilers here). They uncover author Betty G. Birney 's hilarious revelation that Humphrey initially had an "Accent." Who knew a book about a rodent   could be so touching and inspiring? Reminding us of " Talks-too-Much-Mike " and " Slow-Down-David "....

The Doctor will see you now! In their first Dr. Seuss book discussion, Fox in Socks, Mike and David chew on blue goo and in an unmuddled tweetle beetle battle, happen upon some Suess-lore. And their smart tongues? Just headed out on a trip to Numbs-ville! Looking for an episode we touched on in this one? How about: The Giving Tree or Guess How Much I Love You Email Us- DadsOnBooks@gmail.com  

This week, the Dads discuss the book Guess How Much I Love You. Dad A quizzes Dad Number One on art mediums, #1 discovers details about the ISBN page, A crosses the globe looking for the location and #1 plans a trip to see his long lost relatives at Walker Books . After all the hubbub, it's a consensus, they both love it! Looking for an episode we touched on in this one? How about: Little House in...