Dads on Books

Mike and David recorded this back in July 2025 a perfect month to do a Halloween episode. Now that it’s actually Halloween soon we decided to let you listen again. And since we did this episode, we had Dan Gutman himself on our show!! Links to those episodes at the bottom. Please enjoy and tell all your friends. Happy Halloween. 

From July 2025:

“In this week’s episode, David and Mike explore the wild and wackily kookified world of Dan Gutman, and found a million hundred books begging to be read. They contemplate the fortunes they've spent a...

Mike checks in, live from a hotel room in Boston. David holds down the home studio. They dive into the 1963 picture book classic, Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell. The dudes share early childhood reading memories, examine Norman Bridwell’s iconic line-and-wash watercolor art style, discuss the perks of being a huge red dog (and the hazards of digging up full-grown trees), and deliver a fresh round of canine-themed dad jokes. Plus, David shares a exciting encounter with local booksellers at Barnes & Noble!

If you liked this episode, check out these:

Underground by Da...

This week we go way way back. This classic book is older than Mike. This gritty book is older than David. This shiny new book almost as old as David’s parents! It’s older than World War II. Wheut?

There are beautiful drawings of suburban sprawl long before it was a thing and before “ Rose of houses that are all the same and no one seems to care…” 🎵 🎶 Thank you, The Monkees. A great story with all kinds of touches that show its age as a book written and drawn in the 1930s, and it has aged well.

The Dads return to a classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, Illustrated by Felicia Bond.  Is it really a classic? It was written after Mike and David were kids, but it was written during the 1900s even during the Cold War. We’re gonna call it a classic. It’s also our first recording on location! Mike and David recorded this one outside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City after finishing a wonderful two days at Podcast Movement 2026.

It’s a really fun book from the if you do one...

This just in. It's another classic Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett. The Dads visit the town of Chewandswallow. Your read that right—one word, one giant word.

It's a super fun book in which the weather is SPOILER ALERT!! not raining men, but raining food! Sound delicious? It most certainly is, but, casual listener, do not fear. Problems arise, conflicts unfold, and a mild discomfort rears its ugly head (cheese), yum! (Head cheese? I’d rather eat a peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich.)

There are so many fun...

We're back... with part two of our wonderful conversation with Victoria Kann, author of the newly released Snickerdoodle and the absolute classically classic, Pinkalicious, as well as many of its sequels and spinoffs.

Last week we talked about snickerdoodle, which by the way was published just last week! Check it out! We also talked about Pinkalicious, Purplicious, and many more. the spinoff

This week we start off with Peteriffic and dive  deeper into the history of Victoria’s art in the beginning of her career as a graphic designer and how it lead to her cur...

We have yet another author guest! It’s Victoria Kann, yes, she of Pinkalicious fame!

We talk about the Pinkalicious origin story (spoiler alert:  April Fools!) and how she came up with the title’s design. Victoria talks about her early days as a freelance graphic design artist:  a collage of work, if you will. And as always, we talk about her illustration techniques. And, as always, it’s very cool.

We talk about her latest book Snickerdoodle which is published the day after this episode drops! Yes, Victoria shares the origin story. Lots of origin s...

It’s Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard, illustrated by James Marshall and Mike and David take a trip back to their childhood, OK not their childhood but at least the era of their childhood.  While neither read it as kids, but one of them may have read it to their kids. You must listen to find out.

The book is kind of clever, silly, fun, and even a bit dated, but in a good way like a good old classic. Is Miss Nelson missing? Will they ever find her? And if so, will she be cha...

It’s only our second graphic novel, and boy was it graphic! And novel. And second! It’s The Secret Coders written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Mike Holmes, the first in a six-book educational graphic novel collection.

Mike and David bring on the cowbell for the first time. And the last?

It's educational. (Just a little. Just a bit of coding. It’s basic. Not Basic.) It’s a mystery! The Mystery of the Black Squirrel? Nope. The Murder Grounds of the Dead Horse? Neigh. But there is mystery. And intrigue. And subterfu...

In this episode, Mike and David decided to go to another B2 BB episode, a.k.a. Back to Board Books with I Want my Hat Back by Jon Klassen. It’s a cute, fun book and David figured out that it was a SPOILER ALERT!—bear. Whaaaaat? I know right!!

There all kinds of fun animal illustrations:  animals being curious and animals being nice and even animals being helpful. And the mystery of the missing hat which, of course, the bear wants back! And FOREshadowing? ForeSHAdowing you ask? There’s all kinds of foreshadoWING. With foreshadowing here, a...

Did you know that Shrek! was based on a book called Shrek!? Neither did we. And not just any book, but a book called Shrek! And Mike was all, "we totally have to read this book one day." Well kids, today is the day... Well, it’s not the day that we read it—that was a few days ago... And this is not the day that we recorded it—that was also a few days ago. But TODAY is the day that the episode about the book and about the movie based on the book that inspired the episod...

In a very special back to school episode, the Dads discuss I Need a NEW BUTT! (Originally published in the U. K. as I Need a New Bum, but America!) by Dawn McMillan. Probably not found on many Summer Reading Lists, butt enjoyable none the less. Also this is the Dads’ first battery powered book, which gets to 88mph in no time and takes the Dads on a trip down memory lane and going back in time to the past with a deep discussion of the wonderful song Huey Lewis and the News's “I Need a New (Drug) Butt!” And we...

It’s David’s first time to read the world-famous series, Amelia Bedelia! And what better place to start than Amelia Bedelia and the Baby! aka Tarnation! That was Plum Fun! Mike read this with his girls when they were young. He (and they) liked it then and he—nope, not gonna do it. Not gonna tell you. Wouldn't be prudent. And David, well he—wait a second. Trying to trick me again? Sorry I’m not falling for that. You gotta listen.

We will tell you, the Dads had fun talking about the book to the surprise o...

David and Mike enter the world of Greek mythology...but first..

December 1978. Dallas, Texas. David's French grandmother, Tia (which is Spanish for aunt, but that's what they called her. And she wasn't really his grandmother, but his mother's aunt by marriage who raised her from 12 years old (his mom was 12, not her aunt, his Tia) hence Tia. Why Spanish and not Tante which is French for aunt? Because Texas. A lot of her nieces and nephews called her Tante Aline, Aline being her first name) gave David Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. How...

Couldn’t wait for part two with illustrator/author Lisa Desimini? Now you don’t have to.

Lisa, Mike, and David continue their conversation with some rainy weather, 64 (or 64,000?) crayons, and a culinarily interesting conversation about marshmallows. It’s yummy.

We discuss The Fleatastics, Lisa’s “second funny book”, how she came up with the idea, and how she discovered that she’s funny: her editor told her she’s hilarious.

Speaking of origin stories, Mike tells us how we came talk with our first author guest Dan “The Man” Gut “The” Man and many of his friends...

It’s time for another guest!

An author? Sort of. Another daughter? Yes, but not ours’s.

It’s Illustrator/author Lisa Desimini!!! I mean-ie, we talk about books so why not have people who illustrate and write books, right?
Lisa, disseminate de Samini disseminate den't se meany, Desimini is the illustrator and/or author of over 30 children’s books. Mike and David have read a number of them and loved all of them. She is our sixth author to chat with us on the podcast and if you include our daughters, our 12th guest. A...

Indy’s Pension? Hey, a Raider of the Lost Ark deserves to retire in comfort. Aaaaand in a very special July 4 episode, the Dads celebrate the 250th birthday of our great nation. Mike and David return to the Who/What was/is series to discover what is the Declaration of Independence by reading and then discussing What is the Declaration Independence? by Michael C. Harris. To follow half of the rules of Seinfeld, there will be no hugging. But there will be some learning. A whole lot of learning going on. So much so in fact that we debut a...

If this is it Monsters, don't eat broccoli.
The Dads judge a book by its cover:  we liked it. So there. Mike did a slight rewrite. He took some liberties with the words nothing major, just a word here maybe a syllable there, and the Dads test the results, they take it for test drive, if you will.

It’s a fun read with monsters doing all kinds of fun things—eating trucks and tractors and toys all washed down with fruity oil, shopping with vim and vigor—but they don’t eat broccoli. 🥦

If you liked...

It’s the Dads’ first annual “Hey, let’s do a Juneteenth book” book. Or, as Mike put it, “If the world has a day, then we should read a book about it” book. That’s a whole lot of books.

We talk about A Juneteenth Jamboree—a super fun “experience book” (we made that up) about celebrating Juneteenth. Spoiler alert: David’s favorite art form: watercolor and ink. Spoiler alert again: the art is beautiful and David talks about it. Splotches! Splashes! Spots! And precision.

A multi-sensory experience. You see the kitchen and smell the food. You see it, an...

It's time for another "We picked a book because Mike said so" episode.  In Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema with pictures by Leo and Diane Dillon, the Dads banter on M&Ms, Mars and Snickers and Mars Bars and—boy do they need to sponsor us!!  When they get to the book, David declares, "You can judge a book by its cover." "Sort of." You might think we'll find out why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears—'Cause they're annoying?—well, yes, but there is so, so, so much more as the David suspects.

In this...

Mike and David read Matilda by Rao—Raold—Roaold—Mr. Dahl. And illustrated illustriously by Quentin Blake. Mike suggested Dahl, and David saw the musical, and the rest is history. Or literature. 

And despite the book’s youth, it’s a classic. A fantastic story that has spawned two movies and countless productions of the musical. In fact, it inspired the Dads to come up with a new DoB feature:  B v. M or Book versus Movie (or Musical). Who won the first one? Both.

But one thing the Dads couldn’t figure out? How to say Rauold...

After some forays into classics, very classic classics, historical novels, and other serious books, the Dads return to nutty silliness and qwacky whackiness to lighten it up a little with How Martha Saved Her Parents from Green Beans, a fun and funny book by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mark Fearing.

What did we like about this book? Besides green beans?  Oh, let’s see, how about green beans singing off key? Or when the really realistic tomatoes splat against the wall and green beans get catapulted by mysterious vines? And happy lettuce and ominous carrots. Talk about tos...

Mike and David turn to a classic, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, an historical novel set in the Oklahoma panhandle during the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression.

David and Mike—well Mike—tells the origin story of how the Dads picked the book, but this is the origin story of all origin stories. It is the origin of the entire original podcast idea.

We also continue our feature “Things We Forgot to Say on our Last Episode.”  Or, in this case, “Things that David Forgot that he didn’t Forget and Says Them Thinking...

Our very first episode of our very second season!!!

There's so much in this episode, that we don't know where to begin. The beginning? Why not? David discovers that the tale of Rip Van Winkle is about the tale Rip Van Winkle. We know. He’s a late bloomer. Mike shows us his xylophone thing. He, too, blooms late. And Clean Slate David discovers—SPOILER ALERT— “This IS the guy who falls asleep!!”!!!  And there are words that we have never seen, heard, read before. And since.

A true American classic—one of the first!—with some arche...

How do we start the last episode of our first season? With our first RL Stein book: Goosebumps: Monster Blood!

Is it the first or the third or the 30th of the Goosebumps series? Mike tells us, David doesn’t listen and tries to figure it out, and then David figures it out!

Speaking of first or third, in this last episode of season one, there are many firsts! First R. L. "Jovial Bob" Stine Book. First podcast episode recorded entirely in Texas, but without the Dads being together. First time David records away from ho...

Mike and David have a wonderful conversation with author Linda Harkey award winning writer of many wonderful books from Story Monsters.

The Dads talk about her latest book, The Case of the Missing Pink Piggy, a wonderful mystery that might get you a little misty-eyed. Just a little. Like pack rat size. No, smaller. It’s a fun tale of VFDs—What’s a VFD you may ask? You’ll have to listen to find. A hint:  it’s a good thing. A V good thing—and their Squeeze Toy.

Linda told us, “To me, everything’s a...

Mike and David sure love stinky books and books with slime mold, so Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold by Megan McDonald, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds is the most logical choice for their next book.

And not to reveal too much, they both really really really really liked this one! In the story, a boy named Stink decides to feed and grow his science experiment mold at home. What could possibly go wrong?

Highlights? David says “trope”. Mike says “moniker.” David says, “Nope.” Mike says, “Nope.” Mike turns a negative into a positive. Litera...

In another Back to the Basics (and Board Books)  or BB(BB) episode, Mike and David dish on one of David's favorites, Each Peach Pear Plum. Mike's opinion?  "It's one of David's favorites."

Why did David like it so much? Is it the nursery rhyme characters or lots of neat "I spy" details that David certainly noticed when he read it to his girls? Or is it, that it's illustrated in his favorite art medium/media: black ink with watercolors! You'll have to listen to find out.

The Dads also discuss what makes a classic? Wh...

zAnd now part two of our talk with Alan Katz, author, poet, father, and really awesome guy.

There's more jokes and what if we talked a poem called, "What If" and fun stories about about legal name changes and identity confusion with other writer. (Don't worry, no one got hurt)

Alan shares more of his writing rules inlcuding (but not limited to) "Everything you do, any job you pick, is going to involve wriitng." and "Keep creating. Keep being funny." And so much more!

Speaking of funny, Alan, Mike, and David all tell...

Thanks for indulging our April Fool's Day episode. Now back to the real stuff with the real Alan Katz, author of 1 or 2 or 52 books, and, to quote Alan, "twelve of them are good." We disagree. The other 40 R2.

There's lots of jokes, especially, "What does this doodad do, Dad?"—the ultimate dad joke!!—lots of laughing, but—SPOILER ALERT!!—some deep stuff too. Alan shares some of his writing rules the most important of which is:  Rule #1.

Oh, you wanna know what it is? OK.  "I will never make a joke at the expense of someone. K...

WHOLEY COW, BATMAN!  THIS COW SMELLS LIKE...

Fill in the blank for a chance to be live with Clean Slate Dave.... & Mike.

Ut oh... Spagetios???OMG]]

OMG.. is this for realsies????

Wheut?

We are fresh off a St. Patrick's Day Eve recording of The Day the Crayons Quit in our first episode where Mike and David are in the same continent in the same state in the same city in the same house in the same room in the same chair—Okay, wait. That's a little weird. There were two chairs and two Dads, but one room. And many, many, many...many crayons. (And some more crayons.) And definitely check out our video because if you like listening to Mike and David, you’ll love watching them!

It's one of o...

This episode has it all! Stripes: the two dads read about them, they talk about them, David even wears them. There are specialists, experts, the carnival outside Camilla's house replete with news, people, hotdog, vendors, and other shenanigans, chicanery, tomfoolery and silly high jinks.

Warning: there is some darkness, and a touch of "the scary," but the story is so much fun and the art is beautiful, and filled with so many details that you discover more each time you return to the book.

And speaking of returning to the book, Mike and...

We had so much fun with Chris Grabenstein, we had to split it in to two parts! Chris regales us with tales from his book The Crossroads, and how he can tell a story in 35 words. He talks about his “yes and life“ and how he deals with the “mad magazine voice" in his head“ that led him to a career in radio where he got to be wacky and crazy and learned from his good friend Jim Patterson to "throw a pie in their face and once you have their attention, say something smart.”

Chris explains that “fict...

DoB welcomes our third author and first non-daughter, non-Dan guest! None other than the perfectly paraphrasing prosaist of Ms. Pennypickle’s Puzzle Quest multiple award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Grabenstein.

We get to the bottom of the meaning and pronunciation of his name (nom de plume); how he writes; and how his writing was influenced by his experience in improv (back when he was Chris “The Banker” Grabenstein, chilling with Bruce “The Bartender” Willis and Robin "Yes, THAT one" Williams), radio, the ad game, and even banking (a guy's gotta eat).

Chris loves alli...

Mike and David are moved by the inspiring story of Ruby Bridges, a six year old, black girl who was integrated into New Orleans public schools in 1960.

After David learned of her story through Fr. Mike’s (no relation) homily at his girls’ Catholic school, they decided to pick not one, but two books about Ruby Bridges to read and talk about: 

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

and 

Through My Eyes: Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges 

And talk they do. In...

Did you know that George Washington had fake teeth? We did, too. Did you know it was a problem his entire adult life? Neither did we. Did you know he didn’t have wooden teeth? Neither did we. Did you know that he led the Continental army to win the Revolutionary War? We did, too. Just seeing if you’re paying attention. Good job.

While this episode of Dads on Books is just as fun as all the other ones, we decided to celebrate Presidents’ Day with a little bit of learning and a whole lot of fun.<...

In their very first Pete the Cat episode, Mike and David talk and talk and talk about being home alone—aaaaaaaarrrrg!!!—and snow and sleds and Ace the friendly hardware place and lightbulbs—the new college major and, one more thing... oh yeah! the book!!

Pete the Cat--Valentine's Day is Cool has a lot of meaningful memories for Mike and his girls and none whatsoever for David's, but they both loved the book. In a role reversal, Mike actually has the book with a poster: missing, some Valentine's Day cards: AWOL, and stickers:  gone, I tell you! David...

Mike and David are such fans of the Dans, especially Dan Yaccarino author of Piccolo, they had to split their awesome, fun, super conversation in two—due!—episodes.

This time the Dads and the Dan talk about stories, books (The Luna Sisters) and of course, mid-century modern. Even though they post every Monday, they read and talked about Every Friday. They laughed, they cried, they promised not to pretend to cry. 

We finally get to the bottom of why Dan does what he does and digs what he digs. You dig? Listen to find out, but k...

Mike and David continue their celebration of Danuary with their second author guest Dan Yaccarino which means all of their guests are either daughters or Dans. They had so much fun, this is only part one!

Dan and the Dads talk about Dan's latest book, Piccolo and its celebration of Dan's Italian heritage and its themes of putting others before yourself and the importance of gelato. That's Italian for ice cream. They also discuss I Am a Story, An Octopus Followed Me Home, The Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau, City Under the City, One, Two, Grandma Loves...