Dear Boy,: A Celebration of Cool, Clever, Compassionate You!

by Paris Rosenthal, Holly Hatam (Illustrator), Jason B. Rosenthal

Overview

Celebrate the good guys in your life with Dear Boy, a #1 New York Times bestseller. A gift to share for Father's Day, graduation, birthdays, or any day you want to honor your dear boy.

The heartwarming and inspirational Dear Boy, is the follow-up to Amy Krouse Rosenthal's beloved Dear Girl. Amy's daughter, Paris, and husband, Jason, the author of My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir, teamed up to create this love letter.

With the same tenderness as Dear Girl, Paris and Jason’s charming text and Holly Hatam’s stunning illustrations will make any boy reading this book feel that he's amazing just the way he is—whether he’s offering a helping hand, singing in a choir, or reaching for the stars.

…be kind

…always trust magic

…and pursue your dreams.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062422514
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/23/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,957
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD470L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Paris Rosenthal is the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Girl, a collaboration with her late mother, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and the #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Boy, which she wrote with her father, Jason Rosenthal. She also wrote Project 1,2,3, a 365-day guided journal. Paris currently lives in New York City. And yes, she is named after Paris, the city.

Holly Hatam is the illustrator of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Dear Girl, and Dear Boy, which she had the pleasure of creating with Amy, Paris, and Jason Rosenthal. Some of her other books include Made by Maxine, written by Ruth Spiro, and Jack (Not Jackie), written by Erica Silverman. Holly lives in Whitby, Ontario, with her wacky husband and even wackier son.

Jason B. Rosenthal is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Dear Boy, cowritten with his daughter, Paris. He is the board chair of the Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation, which supports both childhood literacy and research in early detection of ovarian cancer. A lawyer, public speaker, and devoted father of three, he is passionate about helping others find ways to fill their blank spaces as he continues to fill his own. Jason resides in Chicago, a city he is proud to call home.

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2019

PreS-Gr 1—This companion to Dear Girl, follows the same format of short motivational messages, this time addressing boys. The notes range from inspirational if somewhat cliched advice like "believe in yourself" and "give it your all," to moral guidance, urging the boys to "Be kind" and honest, and touching upon the importance of consent-- "Yes means yes. Anything else means no." Though the book attempts to celebrate cultural diversity and challenge stereotypical masculinity, such as suggesting that it's ok to play with trucks and dolls, or to feel sad, both the text and illustrations feature some problematic assumptions. "Make friends with girls." because "Believe it or not, girls are pretty awesome" implies that every boy must be persuaded of the value of girls. Similarly, the suggestion to "Find kids who are like you. Find kids who are unlike you," while a great sentiment, depicts the "like kids" as a white hockey team while the "unlike" ones are a diverse choir. As in the previous installment, Hatham's playful mixed media illustrations portray most of the boy addressees as black and white cartoons, perhaps unintentionally reinforcing whiteness as default blankness while relegating the diverse boys and girls of all skin and hair colors to secondary supportive roles. VERDICT With an undercurrent of fraught issues in its loving sentimentality, a likely purchase for many collections given the runaway success of its predecessor.—Yelena Voysey, formerly at Pickering Educational Library, Boston University

School Library Journal

2019-01-28

A follow-up to Paris Rosenthal's advice-filled work written in collaboration with her late mother, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Dear Girl, (2017).

Young gentlemen need guidance too, so Paris Rosenthal partners with her father this time to dispense words of wisdom to boys. Some of the advice is quite pedestrian: "Dear Boy, Always trust magic"; "Dear Boy, If you need one more reminder to pursue your dreams, then here it is: Pursue your dreams." Some of it echoes Dear Girl,: "Find kids who are like you. / Find kids who are unlike you." And some directly speaks to the heart: "Honesty is one thing / that will never lead you down the wrong road." Touching on masculinity, consent ("Yes means yes. / Anything else means no"), encouragement, and kindness, the text offers nothing that is misguided, but it does seem to be missing a spark of surprise. A tiny bit of the unusual. (But, one supposes, since Amy Krause Rosenthal's death, so is the world.) Parallel to Dear Girl,'s protagonist, Hatam creates a paper-white boy with round-dotted eyes to explore the various scenarios. Friends of other, varying shades are in the periphery and background.

Raising and nurturing tiny humans, regardless of gender, is a difficult task—this stands as a reminder that love should be always present. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

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