July 31st is National Parent's Day

July 31st is National Parents’ Day!

Too Much Kissing!: and Other Silly Dilly Songs about Parents
by Alan Katz and illustrated by David Catrow

This is a collection of poems set to well known songs that show how children “feel” about their parents. The songs are filled with children lamenting their parents use of the cell phone (They’re Always on the Cell), parent’s food choices for their children (Disgusting Things), how short stories are at bedtime (My Mother Just Rushes Through Bedtime), and how they kiss each other and their children too much (Too Much Kissing!). Each song is silly, clever, and certainly funny.


















How to Raise Mom & Dad: Instructions from Someone Who Figured it Out
by Josh Lerman and illustrated by Greg Clarke

A big sister decides one day that her little brother is old enough to help her with their parents. His sister has learned that their parents need a lot of help, and she does her best to give them a hand each day. The sister’s advice starts with when to help wake up their mom and dad so that they will be awake enough to start their day. Then she tells him that you have to help them get dressed, eat breakfast, pack lunches (especially to include things like cookies and pudding), ask for things you want while they are driving to school (such as a puppy), choose harder homework (so that you can get help from your parents to keep their brains going), and play with your parents (to make sure they get enough exercise).
She only has her parents best interest at heart, and she wants to make sure that her brother feels the same way.

What Do Parents Do? (When You’re Not Home)
by Jeanie Franz Ransom and illustrated by Cyd Moore

Did you ever wonder what your parents do when you go stay at a friend’s house or with your grandparents? One boy has a theory about his parents. When he and his sister go to spend the night with their grandparents, he knows that his parents are doing things like jumping on the bed, sledding down the stairs on pillows, watching lots of television, ruining their appetites with junk food, dress up the dog, play video games, and stay up really late reading comic books. In the pictures you see all of these activities taking place in his mind, while he does things at his grandparents’ house. Of course, by the time the boy and his sister come home, his parents have everything cleaned up. They even tell him that they did not do much while he was gone, but the boy knows better.


















I'm Just Like My Mom= Me Parezco Tanto a Mi Mamá. I’m Just Like My Dad= Me Parezco Tanto a Mi Papá
by Jorge Ramos and illustrated by Akemi Gutiérrez

This book is both in English and Spanish and has a surprise, as it is two books in one. You can read either story by flipping the book over. In “I’m Just Like My Mom,” a little girl compares herself to her mother. They both have long hair, green eyes, sneeze the same way, and write letters with drawings on them. When the little girl asks who she looks like, her mother tells her that she sees the whole family in her daughter’s face. In “I’m Just Like My Dad,” the little girl’s brother compares himself to their father. They both have long legs, pointy noses, like to get up early, play soccer, and read before bed. The little boy also asks his father who he looks like, and his father tells him that he can see the whole family on his face.