Daddy or Books?

My copy of Steve Roud's excellent guide to English customs forgotten and current, The English Year, tells me that Father's Day is not one of those traditions we'd like to think go back to the Romans or the Celts: it began "sometime after the Second World War, not without opposition".

Fathers of course can be notoriously difficult to buy for …socks again!....but easy to please and less loathe to complain or so the stereotype would have us believe. One of the joys of bookselling is seeing the seasons and festivals come and go and picking and recommending the appropriate books, so with no further ado here's a personal choice of books that have caught my eye for the dads in your life.

For the horticultural dad the latest in the retro adult spoof Enid Blyton series:  Five Lose Dad in the Garden Centre (although it's actually Uncle Quentin who gets lost among the potted palms).

For the dad with a self-deprecating sense of humour there's Dad You Suck by the popular Guardian weekend columnist Tim Dowling.

For the thoughtful dad there's Florence Welch, Paul Weller, Nina Stibbe and the sons and daughters of Ian Dury, Johnny Ball, Roy Castle, Leonard Cohen and others relating the quirks, flaws and quiet heroisms of their dads in My Old Man: Tales of our Fathers, edited by Ted Kessler.

And finally for those who are still small enough to have Dad read to them there's Alfie & Dad, a classic tale from the much loved Shirley Hughes;  proving that dads come in all shapes, sizes & colours, Pippa Goodhart & Nick Sharratt have collaborated on Little Monster's Day Out with Dad;  a little girl and her daddy spend a day out in My Daddy is a Silly Monkey; and Puffin Books have produced a delightful little gift edition of Eric Carle's evergreen The Very Hungry Caterpillar specially adapted for Father's Day.

Neil