Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me

Daniel Beaty is an award winning African American author who writes children's books such as Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me which was published in 2013.  This story is extremely realistic in the sense that it deals with an issue very close to the heart of many students within a classroom; the issue of broken families.  The main character in the story, who remains nameless, struggles with accepting the fact that his father will not be home anymore to say "knock knock" and help him navigate through the crazy thing called life.  As the story continues, the father writes a note to his son with his dreams for him.  This note explains that he wants his son to knock down all the boundaries that face him in life and overcome them. The story explains to children that they have the strength winthin themselves to follow their dreams as they are growing up.  The illustrations in this book are very intense as the picutures also have miniscule pictures within them that display deeper meanings within the text. Through paying close attention to the detail within the pictures, the reader is able to better understand the little boys emotions and his fathers reasoning for leaving him behind. The author's note at the end of this story explains Daniel Beaty's purpose for writing the story as his father was incarcerated when he was merely only three years old.  This allows readers to truly connect with the author and see the world through more than one perspective after reading the story and seeing the young boys struggles and how he overcomes them.