My parents recently gifted this beautifully written and illustrated book to my boys, and it was such a touching and important read-aloud that I wanted to feature it as soon as possible.
Dear Boy uses simple, kid-friendly language in the form of a letter, teaching kids lessons they can carry with them for a lifetime. As you read the book with your boys, you are telling them it’s ok to feel cloudy and “let the rain fall,” that they should always believe in themselves, and “yes means yes” but “anything else means no.”
The book is a companion to the bestseller Dear Girl, which in the same style tells girls they are smart, that they should seek out people who are both like and unlike them, and “if (their) instinct is telling (them) to say no, say no.”
The story behind the books is touching as well. Dear Girl was written by the late children’s author Amy Krouse Rosenthal and her daughter, Paris Rosenthal. Amy passed away from ovarian cancer in March 2017, shortly after famously publishing her essay, “You May Want To Marry My Husband,” in the New York Times. Amy’s husband, Jason, and their daughter, Paris, later teamed up to write the recently released Dear Boy.
The books are sweet reads with kids of any age. Both my fifth grader and first grader enjoyed them – and when I borrowed Dear Girl from the library to write this review, I read that to them as well. These books have such important lifelong messages that I may start including them with graduation gifts.
Mom, which book is next? 