24 Canadian books that represent fatherhood for Father's Day 2025
This year, Father's Day will be celebrated on Sunday, June 15
This Father's Day (June 15), check out 24 Canadian books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and more that share the stories of fathers and father-like figures.
The Loom by Andy Weaver
The Loom is a collection of lyric poems about the author's experiences after becoming a father of two young boys at age 42. Andy Weaver's life now is filled with restlessness, noise and stickiness that come with two small children — and so this book reflects on his unique journey to parenthood with humour and hard truths.
Weaver's poetry collections include Were the Bees, Gangson and This. Weaver is an associate professor of creative writing, contemporary poetry, and poetics at York University in Toronto.
Dear Da-Lê by Anh Duong
Written for his daughter, Anh Duong tells his previously untold story as a child during the Vietnam War and a refugee in Iran in the late 1970s. Compelled by his daughter's involvement in student protests, in Dear Da-Lê, he decides that it's finally time to share his journey to ending up in Canada in 1980.
Duong is a Calgary-based writer. He was born in Thua-Thien Hue, Vietnam and moved to Iran in the 1970s. He worked for years as an engineer in the petroleum industry after his 1980 arrival to Canada.
Invisible Prisons by Lisa Moore and Jack Whalen
In Invisible Prisons, told through the prose of author Lisa Moore, Jack Whalen shares the violence and abuse he experienced as a child at a St. John's boarding school for four years. Despite the pain he endured, he found love and satisfaction as a husband and father. After hearing about what happened to him, his daughter promised to become a lawyer to help him seek justice — and that's just what she did. Now, Whalen's case is part of a lawsuit that is before the courts.
Invisible Prisons was shortlisted for the 2024 Hilary Weston Prize for Nonfiction
Moore is a Newfoundland-based writer. Her books include February, which won Canada Reads 2013 when it was defended by Trent McClellan; Caught, which was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2013 and was made into a miniseries for CBC television; the YA novel Flannery and the short story collection Something for Everyone, which was on the longlist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Mandeep's Cloudy Days by Kuljinder Kaur Brar, illustrated by Samrath Kaur
Mandeep's Cloudy Days is a picture book about a young girl who is deeply missing her father, who has to be away from their home during the week for his job as a truck driver. Mandeep and her dad love spending time together, performing Bhangra shows and having cha parties. When he's not around Mandeep finds it difficult to be happy. Mandeep's Cloudy Days explores the complex emotions of being separated from the people we love and how we can find moments of happiness and light amongst the more difficult times.
Mandeep's Cloudy Days is for ages 4-7.
Kuljinder Kaur Brar is a writer and an elementary school teacher. Her first picture book, My Name Is Saajin Singh, was selected for the first edition of CBC Kids Reads. She is based in Abbotsford, B.C.
Samrath Kaur is a queer, American-born Punjabi illustrator based in Boston, MA. She illustrated the picture book My Name Is Saajin Singh, written by Kuljinder Kaur Brar.
Favourite Daughter by Morgan Dick
In Favourite Daughter, when Mickey's estranged father dies, she's left a considerable fortune. There's a stipulation, however: Mickey must attend therapy sessions before she can access the money. Things get complicated when it's revealed that her new therapist is a sister who she's never met — and the two begin sessions without knowing they share a father.
Morgan Dick is a writer from Calgary. Her short fiction has appeared in Grain, Geist, CAROUSEL, Cloud Lake Literary, The Prairie Journal, Vagabond City Lit and The Humber Literary Review.
How to Share an Egg by Bonny Reichert
When Toronto-based journalist Bonny Reichert turned 40, she quit her job and enrolled in culinary school — a life-changing decision that pushed her to explore her relationship with food in writing. This exploration, along with a critical bowl of borscht in Warsaw, led Reichert to writing the memoir, How to Share an Egg, which dives into how food shapes her history as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and shares her dad's story of survival.
Bonny Reichert is a journalist and chef based in Toronto. She was formerly an editor at Today's Parent and Chatelaine and has written for The Globe and Mail. She won a National Magazine Award and was on the longlist for the 2020 CBC Short Story Prize. She teaches writing at the University of Toronto.
The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien
In The Book of Records, Lina grows up in "The Sea," a building that serves as a home for migrants from all over the world, while caring for her sick father. She forms friendships with her fascinating neighbours, including a Jewish scholar exiled for his radical views and a poet from the Tang Dynasty, whose stories captivate her. However, her seemingly perfect life takes a startling turn when her father reveals the true reason they came to live at "The Sea."
Madeleine Thien is a short story writer and novelist. She is the author of the novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing, which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General's Award in 2016 and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Thien's debut novel, Certainty, published in 2006, won the Amazon First Novel Award and was a Globe and Mail Best Book. Thien is also the author of Dogs at the Perimeter, which was a Globe and Mail Best Book, and the children's book The Chinese Violin. Her first work of fiction, Simple Recipes, won four awards in Canada and was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.
No Jews Live Here by John Lorinc
No Jews Live Here explores John Lorinc's Hungarian Jewish family history during the Holocaust, the 1956 Revolution and eventual move to Toronto. It follows Lorinc's grandmother, grandfather and father's experiences with the Nazis. No Jews Live Here uses historical insight and human stories to chart one family's trajectory across cities and cultures.
Lorinc is an editor and journalist living in Toronto. His work has appeared in publications including the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and the Walrus. His books include Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias and The New City. Lorinc received the 2019/2020 Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and the 2022 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.
For the Love of a Son by Scott Oake
For the Love of a Son is a memoir that explores a father's unconditional love for a son struggling with drugs, addiction and violence. When Canadian broadcaster Scott Oake first held his infant son, Bruce, in his arms, he never imagined that Bruce would become a statistic in the losing battle to opioid abuse. Oake explores the life of his late son and the lasting impact of loving and supporting someone battling substance use disorder.
Oake is a sportscaster for CBC Sports, Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada. He is on the Roll of Honour of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association and appointed a Member of the Order of Manitoba and the Order of Canada. Originally from Sydney, Nova Scotia, Oake started his broadcasting career at Memorial University's campus radio station before spending five decades with CBC.
The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman by Niko Stratis
The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman is a memoir-in-essays that explores how a love of "dad rock" music helped Niko Stratis come to a better understanding of life, love and the world around them. Stratis was a closeted 20-something trans woman working in her dad's glass shop in the Yukon Territory during the time when "dad rock" bands like Wilco, Radiohead and The National were regular fixtures on the radio and in rock culture circles.
The incisive essays in the book examine how Stratis discovered a sense of queer and trans identity and belonging by way of listening to "emotionally available" artists such as Neko Case and Sharon Van Etten within this subgenre.
Stratis is a Canadian writer, author and critic from Toronto by way of the Yukon. Her writing has appeared in publications like Catapult, Spin and Paste.
Who We Are by Murray Sinclair, with Sara Sinclair and Niigaan Sinclair
Murray Sinclair made his mark on Canadian society as a judge, activist, senator, the chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the co-chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry — and he wrote all about it in his memoir Who We Are. The book answers the four guiding questions of Sinclair's life — Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? Who am I? — through stories about his remarkable career and trailblazing advocacy for Indigenous peoples' rights and freedoms. Initially written as letters to his granddaughter and a collaboration between father and son, Who We Are shares wisdom from generation to generation.
Murray Sinclair was a former judge and senator. He died in November, at age 73. Anishinaabe and a member of the Peguis First Nation, Sinclair was the first Indigenous judge appointed in Manitoba and the second appointed in Canada. He served as Co-Chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in Manitoba and as Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He has won awards including the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the Manitoba Bar Association's Equality Award and its Distinguished Service Award (2016) and has received Honorary Doctorates from 14 Canadian universities.
Sara Sinclair is an oral historian of Cree-Ojibwa and mixed settler descent. She teaches at Columbia University and is currently co-editing two anthologies of Indigenous letters.
Niigaan Sinclair is a writer, editor, activist and the head of the Department of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba. He is the co-editor of Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water and Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World Through Stories. He won the Peace Educator of the Year award in 2019. He is also the author of the book Wînipêk.
Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint? by Tyna Legault Taylor, illustrated by Michelle Dao
Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint? is a new picture book where a father teaches his son about traditional food harvesting. When the weather is warm, Joshua and his father love to gather mint together from the shores of Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinaabek in northeastern Ontario. The book also features a glossary and pronunciation guide for the Omushkegomowin (Swampy Cree language) and Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) words featured in the story.
Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint? is for ages 5 to 8.
Tyna Legault Taylor is a member of Attawapiskat First Nation located on the Traditional Territory of the Omushkego James Bay Cree of Treaty 9 in Northern Ontario. She lives in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Michelle Dao is an Ontario-based Vietnamese Canadian illustrator, with a background in animation.
The Saltbox Olive by Angela Antle
Through a series of connected stories spanning past and present, The Saltbox Olive tells the untold story of Newfoundland soldiers in Italy during World War II. The novel begins with Caroline Fisher's quest to figure out why her grandfather burned his brother's wartime letters.
Angela Antle is a writer, artist, journalist and documentary filmmaker from St. John's, N.L. Her work has appeared in Riddle Fence and Newfoundland Quarterly, among others. She wrote and directed Gander's Ripple Effect: How a Small Town's Kindness Opened on Broadway, and wrote the documentary Atlantic: What Lies Beneath, which won best documentary awards at the Dublin, Wexford, Nickel and Chagrin Film Festivals. She is currently an interdisciplinary PhD candidate at Memorial University and a member of Norway's Empowered Futures Energy School.
Unravel by Tolu Oloruntoba
In the poetry collection Unravel, Nigerian Canadian poet Tolu Oloruntoba reflects on themes of identity, belonging and agency by way of poems that fundamentally delve into what it means to be human in today's world. The poems in this collection explore his Nigerian heritage, what it means to be Canadian immigrant, and his experience as a new father.
Tolu Oloruntoba is a writer from Nigeria who now lives in Alberta. His first full-length poetry collection, The Junta of Happenstance, won the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry.
He is the founder of the literary magazine Klorofyl and author of the chapbook Manubrium, which was shortlisted for the 2020 bpNichol Chapbook Award.
Horsefly by Mireille Gagné, translated by Pablo Strauss
Horsefly is a chilling tale that explores the dangerous consequences of human attempts to manipulate nature. In 1942, Thomas, a young entomologist, was sent to a remote island to work on a secret wartime project involving horseflies as biological weapons. Eight decades later, in 2025, a man turns to his grandfather, whose dementia keeps him trapped in the past, for help in understanding the experiments, because when a swarm of horseflies is unleashed during a heat wave, people are driven into a violent frenzy.
Mireille Gagné is an author based in Quebec City. She has written books of poetry, short stories and the novel Le lièvre d'Amérique.
Pablo Strauss has translated several works of fiction, graphic novels and one screenplay. He was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for translation for The Country Will Bring Us No Peace, Synapses and The Longest Year. His translation of Le plongeur by Stephane Larue (The Dishwasher in English) won the 2020 Amazon First Novel Award. Most recently, he translated Eric Chacour's What I Know About You, which was on the shortlist for the 2024 Giller Prize and the 2024 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. He lives in Quebec City.
Astronautical! by Brooklin Stormie
A century after planet Zephyr mysteriously exploded, its people now live on floating chunks of the world. Brothers Max and Lari travel the galaxy with their dad, Captain Cherryhair, delivering goods — until their father is kidnapped by the villainous Cynosure, the Planet Breaker.
With the help of some starry ferryboat captains, the brothers set off on a daring rescue mission in Astronautical!. But when Max is injured by a black hole, Lari must step up and take charge for the first time. Can he uncover the secret of Zephyr's destruction, defeat Cynosure and save both his brother, father and their people?
Astronautical! is for ages 8-12.
Brooklin Stormie is an artist and illustrator from Peterborough, Ont.
Dear Dad by Laura Best
Ever since Sam's dad was diagnosed with ALS three years ago, going about his regular life as a 14-year-old boy has been next to impossible. In Dear Dad, a young adult novel about a father seeking medical assistance in dying, or MAID, Sam is struggling to be supportive of his father's choice. Exploring the complex and emotional experiences of disability, death and fatherhood, Dear Dad follows Sam as he searches for his way back home.
Laura Best is a Nova Scotia-based writer of books for young people and adults. Her other novels include the 2018 Silver Birch Award winner Cammie Takes Flight and her adult book Good Mothers Don't.
An Unbalanced Force by Valerie Sherrard
An Unbalanced Force follows Ethan Granger, a teenager who's lived a life of wealth and privilege due to his father's mysterious business. After his dad slips up on a work detail, Ethan begins to worry that his dad is lying about the true and nefarious dealings of his job. So, he hires a private eye and sneakily follows his father in a thrilling adventure to reveal well-kept family secrets.
Valerie Sherrard is a writer of books for children and teens born in Saskatchewan. She is the author of over 30 books, including Birdspell and Standing on Neptune, a novel written in verse. Sherrard is currently based in Miramichi, New Brunswick.
Line Drive to Love by Angel Jendrick
Line Drive to Love is a queer coming-of-age novel about a talented softball player stuck between her passion for the sport and a budding romance with a fellow player. Rory wants to be the best pitcher there is but with her father's ALS diagnosis as well as trying to date the charming Shanti she starts to feel overwhelmed. From softball to family to summer romance, can Rory step up to everything on her plate?
Angel Jendrick is a writer of romance and poetry currently based in P.E.I. She is also the author of Secret Me.
The Sky Above by Marty Gervais
The Sky Above is a selection of poems from the perspective of a writer who crafts a story in many forms, be it journalism, photography or poetry. Canadian poet Marty Gervais's book tells everyday stories of being a father, weathering storms and occasionally talking to people like Mother Teresa in a Detroit church basement.
Gervais is an Ontario journalist, poet, playwright, historian, photographer and editor. In 2018, he was nominated as the City of Windsor's Poet Laureate Emeritus. He is founder of Black Moss Press, one of Canada's oldest literary publishing firms, and is managing editor of The Windsor Review.
This Report is Strictly Confidential by Elizabeth Ruth
This Report is Strictly Confidential is a poetic memoir of writer Elizabeth Ruth's inner life and family dynamics. Within four sections the poet details the life of her aunt who lived in a government residential hospital and reflects on a father she never met. Through the irony and intimacy of the poet's life, secrets come forward and leave lasting effects.
Elizabeth Ruth is an author, poet and professor living in Toronto. She is also the author of the novels Semi-Detached, Ten Good Seconds of Silence, Smoke and Matadora. This Report Is Strictly Confidential is her debut poetry collection.
Grampy's Chair by Rebecca Thomas, illustrated by Coco A. Lynge
The heartwarming picture book, Grampy's Chair, is told from the perspective of a grandfather's favourite chair. The chair keeps an eye on Grampy's granddaughter, affectionately referred to as My Love. Grampy's chair is the perfect spot for My Love to read and play games, and also to curl up on when sick. When Grampy passes away, his chair is moved into storage and it wonders if it will ever see My Love again. Grampy's Chair explores grief, love and the importance of life moments taking place in our favourite spots.
Grampy's Chair is for ages 4-7.
Rebecca Thomas is a Mi'kmaw poet and children's writer, registered with Lennox Island First Nation. She is a former Halifax Poet Laureate. Her previous books include I place you into the fire, Swift Fox All Along and I'm Finding My Talk. Thomas lives in K'jipuktuk, Mi'kma'ki.
Coco A. Lynge is a Greenlandic-Danish Inuit artist. She lives in Denmark.
Dad, I Miss You by Nadia Sammurtok, illustrated by Simji Park
Dad, I Miss You is a picture book that is based on author Nadia Sammurtok's family history of residential school separation. A young boy and his dad each tell their story from their own perspective after the young boy is taken from his family and sent to a residential school. Dad, I Miss You explores loss, reconnection and hope.
Nadia Sammurtok is an Inuk writer who lives in Iqaluit. She's written several picture books inspired by Inuit life and stories, including To My Panik, The Owl and the Two Rabbits, In My Anaana's Amautik and Siuluk: The Last Tuniq.
Simji Park is an illustrator and animator from South Korea, currently based in London, England.
Mad at Dad by Janie Hao
Mad at Dad is a lift-the-flap picture book that explores big feelings and managing anger in healthy ways. A little girl gets mad at her dad, but quickly realises she doesn't like the feeling of being mad, except she doesn't know how to stop it.
Mad at Dad is for ages 2-6.
Janie Hao is an illustrator and writer. She has a degree in illustration from Sheridan College and lives in Toronto.
