New titles celebrate fathers of many kinds

What better way to celebrate Father’s Day than with a roundup of children’s books. These six colorfully illustrated books are a perfect way to spend time with your little one, sharing the wonder, joy and unexpected gifts of parenthood.

“The Bench”

Written by Meghan Markle; illustrated by Christian Robinson (Random House; 40 pages; $18.99; ages 3-7)

Meghan Markle, a.k.a. the Duchess of Sussex, penned a poem as a gift to husband Harry on his first Father’s Day last year. Son Archie is now 2. That poem has morphed into her debut picture book, “The Bench,” illustrated by Christian Robinson of Sacramento. Focused on the deepening bond between father and son over time, her words are replete with irony and longing.

Royal watchers know that neither Markle nor her prince seem to have enjoyed the paternal constancy and connection she writes about. After all, she is estranged from her own father, and Harry, well, let’s just say that he has been dishing on his dad of late.

So, in simple, rhymed verse, more heartfelt than original, she gratefully addresses the loving father of her growing boy. She begins: “This is your bench/ Where life will begin/ For you and our son/ Our baby, our kin.” She goes on to cover a range of shared emotions — hurt and happiness, sorrow and joy, setbacks and success.

Raised by his grandmother, without benefit of his own father, Robinson too brings added dimension to his inclusive visual interpretation of Markle’s poem. He fills spacious, white pages with a variety of father/son pairings in a variety of everyday pursuits — learning to ride a bike, heading off for the first day of school and playing with toy dinosaurs on the floor.

The fathers are brown and pink, in military uniform and Sikh turban, with gingercolored hair and black dreadlocks, the latter two perhaps references to Prince Harry and Robinson himself, respectively. Happily, this reallife mix is mirrored in five recent picture books that celebrate fathers (and grandfathers) of many kinds and the important role they play on any given day.

“Our Subway Baby: The True Story of How One Baby Found His Home”

Written by Peter Mercurio; illustrated by Leo Espinosa (Dial; 40 pages; $17.99; ages 4-8)

This quintessentially sweet picture book recounts a true story that made headlines back in 2002. A gay white man named Danny found a brownskinned newborn in the corner of a New York City subway station. That baby then went from a police car to the hospital and into foster care before a sympathetic judge made the best possible permanent placement — with Danny and his partner, Pete. “A baby belongs with someone who loves him,” she declared. Tidy digital art parallels the matteroffact telling in this feelgood story about two dads with a tiny apartment, no money, some selfdoubt and hearts big enough to form a forever family. An author’s note describes just how well things have turned out.

Susan Faust is a member of the Association for Library Service to Children, most recently serving on the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award selection committee. She was a librarian at Katherine Delmar Burke School in San Francisco for 33 years.