Book Review: “Dads Are Mighty, Dads are Strong” by Mt. Hamilton

Before Brian and I were even married and thinking about kids, I bought the book “Guess How Much I Love You” because I loved that it was about the love of a father for his child and I knew I wanted my future kids to feel secure in that. Nobody has ever accused me of not thinking ahead.

I think sometimes dads can struggle to verbally express their love, but a book makes it easy. A book gives you the words, you just get to read them. “Dads are Mighty, Dads are Strong” by Mt. Hamilton is a necessary addition to any dad’s library to help them claim their own dad superpowers AND express their love for their kids.

The pictures are fun and I’ve found my kids enjoy monster dads or animal dads more than looking at pictures of human dads. Especially since we are a multiracial family, it’s hard to find books that look like us, but a monster dad (who has monster kids of different colors) was a perfect fit. There were some funny pictures that my kids really loved (Monster Dad is afraid of snakes, which is hilarious to toddlers, apparently.)

There are lots of words in this book that describe a dad (mighty, strong, fierce, valiant), but my favorite page said “Dads are steady, dads push through, working hard to care for you.” The picture has a monster dad doing paperwork. As much as we can glorify the big, bold work of fatherhood, I love this acknowledgment of the quiet work of dads to provide. My kids are familiar with a dad who often has paperwork to do (need an awesome insurance agent? give him a call 🙂 ) and they know that means he’s taking care of them. It’s normalizing and powerful to see that pictured in a storybook.

I like this book. It got the coveted, “Again, Dad” review from my toddlers after the first reading and AGAIN after the second reading (this may also be because Brian insisted on reading it in the “Gru” voice from Despicable Me). It’s a sweet poem for dads to read to their kids and it’s a great gift for the dad in your life. In a “Berenstain Bears” world where dads are often pictured as bumbling idiots, just waiting for Mom to step in and fix things, this book is a great validation of the hard and rewarding work of fatherhood.

(If you buy from the amazon link above, that benefits me. Thanks!)