Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me

Beaty, D.,& Collier, B. Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream For Me. (2013). NY: Little, Brown and Company.

Lexile Score: AD780L

Summary: A young boy wakes up every morning with a knock from his dad at his bedroom door. One day, he doesn’t receive that knock. At first, the little boy feels lost, but then he finds a letter from his dad on his desk. The letter is filled with advice to guide his son through the times that he cannot be there. After reading the author’s note, you find out that the dad was incarcerated.

Evaluation: This is a touching story about a father and son relationship even at a long distance. It brings up a subject that a lot of students go through on a daily basis. Readers are moved by the loss the child experiences without his father present to help answer life’s questions about how to trust and love and become whole, which also serves as the themes. There is definitely at least one conflict for children to explore. Mainly being the fact that the father has left the household.

The conflict does get resolved though at the end when the father gets let out of the prison. Plus, throughout the story, the young boy is able to receive letters of advice from his father until he get let out, so it rises us readers up to the overall resolution. The only criticism I have is that there is only one cultural group represented and there is a stereotype in the story. The stereotype being the fact that the Black father is the person in prison.

I really loved this story. I even shed tears a couple of times while reading because you can really feel how the boy is feeling. The illustrations really add to the tone. It gives a great life lesson to make life as beautiful as possible even given unfortunate circumstances like being a fatherless child.   

Literary elements: Illustrations- the illustrations basically tell its own story like when the boy’s father is no longer there, the boy’s rainbow falls, and his whole world crumbles beneath his feet. The art is created in watercolor and collage, which adds to the storyline and makes the story a lot more engaging for students.

Theme- The theme of the story is trust, love, and become whole

Symbolism- the sky in the art is not so blue, which symbolizes the boy’s loss.

Mini Lesson: I would have a mini lesson about the theme of trusting and loving family. I would discuss the different family types and include this family as an example. I also would educate my students on losses of a family member and how to handle that whether it be loss form incarceration, divorce, or even death and how this relates to the themes of the story.

Target Audience: 2^nd-5^th grade because of the touchy subject matter and understanding of the symbolism and themes.