Daddy’s Roommate
reviewed by Judith E. Beckett, R.N.
written and illustrated by Michael Willhoite
Alyson Publications, 1990. (Ages 2-5)
This book was published the same year as Heather Has Two Mommies and is also still being banned, burned and removed from library bookshelves.
On the first page, a little boy explains, “My Mommy and my Daddy got divorced last year.” He goes on to say that there is “somebody new at Daddy’s house.” The pictures illustrate all the everyday things the two men do together (work, eat, shave, sleep) and then all the things that the boy does on weekends when the three of them are together.
“Frank likes me too!” he says and gives examples of how Frank reads to him, helps him catch bugs, and makes great peanut butter sandwiches for him. His mother tells him, “Daddy and Frank are gay” and explains, “Being gay is just one more kind of love.”
The text is very simple with less than a dozen words on each page, which makes it appropriate for young children and children with short attention spans. It’s a good book for new readers to read alone. Some mothers might not be as understanding as this little boy’s was just one year after daddy came out.
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