What Do You Call Your Dad?

By Ashleigh Barton & Martina Heiduczek

Reviewed by Margarite Igras

Australian children’s author Ashleigh Barton has teamed up with Martina Heiduczek to create several notable picture books, including What do you call your grandma? (CBCA shortlist 2022), What do you call your Grandpa? (CBCA Notable 2021) and How do you say I love you? (CBCA Notable 2023). This latest collaboration, What do you call your Dad?  poses another question to the reader, opening the door to diverse languages, cultures and terms of endearment.

Given Australia’s multicultural population, this is a beautiful celebration of all the dads out there. Barton and Heiduczek explore the many ways we say dad, both formally and informally and celebrate the special relationship between father and child and the warmth and respect for a significant member of the family. It is also a chance for the reader to share what he or she calls their father, A Daddy here, a Baba there, or maybe he’s Papa.

There are heart-warming depictions of father and child activities around the world. From Hungary, to Indonesia, Nepal, Samoa to the Indigenous Australians in Northern Australia, father and child are shown engaged in hiking, playing chess, playing football, watching a movie together or working on a big school project. The bright illustrations fill the pages with colour, texture and a hint of culture in the details.

The rhyming stanzas are enjoyable to read and, together with the vibrant illustrations, create a window into a diverse set of families and culture. There is additional information in the back pages, that informs the reader and encourages further discussion.

An ideal gift for a father and an insightful and heart-warming book for 4- to 8-year-olds.

ABC Books AU 2024

Ashleigh Barton

Martina Heiduczek