posted on 18 Jun 2017

Beardy Dads Galore!

When I was a little girl in the 1950s and early 1960s, children's picture books showed mostly conventional fathers dressed in semi -formal clothes and spending most of their time away from home out at work. They might briefly appear setting out for the office in the morning or reappearing at the end of the day to read a bedtime story. This lack of visibility on the domestic front was a hang- over from earlier days when many fathers, either through necessity or choice, didn't get that involved with the day to day adventures of their young children.  Many of these men also seemed to smoke pipes which I was very comfortable about because my own dad was always either happily puffing away or fiddling about with his tin of St Bruno and his box of Swan matches. I'm not sure how those children whose dads didn’t smoke pipes felt about this image and I certainly can't remember any pictures of dads with cigarettes. In the twenty first century I am pretty sure that the depiction of smoking of any kind in picture books would be censored unless it was in a non- fiction health education book. But how much does social realism really matter when depicting dads in picture books? This got me thinking about the extent to which dads are now shown differently to reflect different fashions and life styles plus a relatively more relaxed, hands on style of parenting that often includes a closer relationship with their young children.

For instance, in recent years, hipster style beards have become all the rage and so I have been hunting to see whether this fashion is reflected in illustrations of dads in picture books. This used to be an unusual image as apart from Father Christmas, any men with beards were usually something to do with the sea.  Here are just a few of the good ones:Billy and Belle by Sarah Garland was published in 2004 but I am including it here because this dad is actively involved in preparing for the arrival of a new baby in the family.  His black curly beard appears to be clean but un-manicured, as was the fashion then. His facial hair is part of his generally relaxed demeanour and his evident willingness to take fair share of the household chores.  He is unfazed and unflustered when his wife goes into hospital and he is left in charge of the other two children.

Tell me a Tattoo Story by Alison McGhee, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler was published in 2016 and shows us a rather self- conscious highly groomed young American dad whose fair beard is closely clipped. Somehow he manages to look ‘clean cut’ despite having a beard! As this story focuses on telling his son all about why he has had different tattoos to mark significant occasions, we also get to see quite a bit of his well- toned physique and I would guess that this dad probably goes to the gym regularly – another modern phenomenon.

Two picture books published in 2017 show young bearded dads who clearly relish spending time with their young children. Baking with Dad by Aurora Cacciapuoti stars a rather unkempt bald dad with a curly brown beard. The message is that he is great fun as he enjoys making a mess with his daughter as they make a fabulous birthday cake together. He looks like the kind of boy man dressed in casual clothes who still enjoys a good party.

The Dressing - Up Dad by Maudie Smith, illustrated by Paul Howard is probably my favourite from this bunch of picture books because it is so funny. The bearded dad in this story just loves dressing up and his playfulness is much appreciated by his son until he decides that he just wants his dad to be like everyone else's - predictable and reliable without resorting to wearing wild costumes all the time. His brown beard, like his hair is a bit unruly because he clearly does not pay much time and attention to personal grooming. He has much bigger plans about always making an impression with his wonderful array of costumes. When he is eventually persuaded to sacrifice wearing a costume at his son’s birthday party and t come along dressed as an ‘ordinary’ dad, he is revealed as a man with a much tidier beard who looks just a bit lost.

I don't think that these dads would be essentially different without their beards but this detail does represent a noticeable change in fashion. This wasn’t always the case as I remember the huge hairy beards of the 1970s and don't think that dads with beards featured over much in children’s picture books then. Perhaps such a look was disapproved of by publishers because it then indicated the kind of man who wasn't quite socially responsible, much in the way that tattoos didn't feature very often? I guess it comes down to which illustrators are favoured by publishers and whether they choose to recognise particular trends. It is good to know that there is now more variety of dad images so I feel the need for a shelf with a dedicated collection of bearded dads in picture books coming on …

Karen Argent

June 2017