Activity: A Dad Who Measures Up

Book Inspiration for this activity:

Book Details:

Author: Davide Cali

Illustrator: Anna Laura Cantone

ISBN: 9780958557191

Publisher: Wilkins Farago, 2007

RRP: $16.99 (aud) -paperback

Suitable for ages: 3+

The young girl in this story thinks her mum is wonderful. There is no other mother in the world who is as tall, as strong, as beautiful, as intelligent or as athletic as hers. The warm, textured illustrations help to evoke this sentiment. They are both endearing and comical at the same time, and are a real credit to the story.

It is just as well she feels this way about her mother because they only have each other. Unlike other children, this young girl doesn’t have a father. That is until she puts an ad in the paper for a dad.

She is looking for someone who would make a good match for her mum; someone strong, handsome, athletic, intelligent and kind. Many men come knocking but there is only one man that they invite to stay.

Although he is small, they let him stay because he is kind, he can cook, he remembers poems and tells two stories at bedtime (and we love any dad who enjoys telling stories)

This is a beautiful book about the importance of fathers. It highlights the importance of being loved and showered with kindness. Most importantly, Davide has written a story for all children to enjoy. Whether they are from single parent families, separated families, blended families or nuclear families, they will be able to relate.

If this book sounds delightful to you, make sure you enter our latest giveaway. We have one copy of this book to giveaway.

After reading A Dad Who Measures Up, we felt inspired to see how our own dad measures up.

Our family activity:

We collected our materials:

We asked Dad to lie on the paper and traced the outline of his body:

Cam gave Dad some facial features and some nail polish (creative licence):

We talked about what we love about Dad and what he does with us (and wrote it all over his body):

Here is a photo of Cam attempting to write ‘swimming‘ :

We measured Dad’s height, and the length of his arms and legs:

Cam and Dad went on a hunt to find items around the house that measured the same length as Dad’s arms and legs:

Finally, they discovered that the width of the fridge measures the same as the length of Dad’s arm:

Going Further:

If Cam was a little older there would be a few more tasks I’d like to try to extend the activity:

• Trace and measure all family members

• Use scraps of material to dress up our paper-dad

• Write an advertisement describing our dad (and other family members)

Author, Davide Cali, is about to undertake his Australian Tour. To celebrate, he is visiting a few bookish blogs before arriving. Click on the banner below to find out more about him. You can also read our review of his latest book, 10 Little Insects.