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Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me    by Daniel Beaty & Bryan Collier Amazon.com order for
Knock Knock
by Daniel Beaty
Order:  USA  Can
Little, Brown & Co., 2013 (2013)
Hardcover
* * *   Reviewed by Bob Walch

'Dear son, Ask your mama to help you make those scrambled eggs we love. Remember to do your homework before you watch TV. I am sorry I will not be coming home,' reads a letter from a father to his small son.

With compassion and dignity, this unique picture book deals with the loss of a parent due to something other than death. First, the author establishes the warm and caring relationship between the boy and his father. Then the father is gone but leaves a note for his son. It is a heartbreaking situation but from it the child derives the strength he will need to be a good, caring father when he has his own family.

The reason for the father's departure is never spelled out, but the author explains at the end of the book that his own father was incarcerated; thus, he has firsthand knowledge of how traumatic this type of loss can be.

Although this book addresses a parent's loss, I'm not sure I would use it in a situation where the father has died. But it certainly works for the situation spelled out by the author or something like it.

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