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Summary
Add a SummaryIt was the same every morning. The boy would pretend to be sleeping when his father went “Knock Knock” on the door. Then he’d “surprise” his father by leaping into his arms once he came in the room. That is, until the day his father didn’t knock anymore. The man is simply gone, poof! Like he was never there at all. Bewildered and lost, the boy writes his father a letter and leaves it on his desk in the desperate hope that maybe his dad’s in the apartment when the boy’s not home. He tells his dad that he was hoping that when he got older he’d teach him how to dribble a ball or shave or drive or fix a car even. Then, one day, there’s a letter from his father sitting on the desk. “I am sorry I will not be coming home,” it begins. It then proceeds to encourage the boy to seek his own path and grow to manhood without him. “Knock Knock with the knowledge that you are my son and you have a bright, beautiful future.” Years later when the boy has grown, his father returns to him. In his Author’s Note, Daniel Beaty discusses the effect his own father’s incarceration had on him when he was only three. As he puts it, “This experience prompted me to tell the story of this loss from a child’s perspective and also to offer hope that every fatherless child can still create the most beautiful life possible.”
Comment
Add a CommentThe artwork in this story is beautiful and captivating. The story is based on the author's own experience with his father leaving him at a young age and while the author's sincerity in the book is obvious, the story felt incomplete somehow. It might have been better if readers were allowed to know why the father left - otherwise the ending feels more empty. I'm not really sure how I felt about this book overall, but the artwork makes it worth a look.
How does a young boy cope with the sudden loss of his father? Heartwarming story enhanced by some unique artwork.
Knock Knock tells the story of a young boy who is very close to his father. Every morning the father knocks on the bedroom door before coming in to wake up his son and tell him he loves him. Then one morning, he doesn't. Collier's watercolor and collage illustrations are distinctive, engaging, and beautiful.
A sad story about real life for far too many kids. My son enjoyed but was sad for character after.
A powerful and very moving picture book.
NYPL Staff Pick
A moving portrait of a child in the wake of an absent parent, told against the backdrop of New York City.
A poignant story about a young boy losing his Father. How , we never really find out , but how he copes and the truth of the matter , there are lots of children in this situation.
Liked this storyline very much , eventhough it is somewhat sad.
This is an emotionally resonant book about a boy who loses his father. The reader doesn't know how the boy loses his father. Maybe he died, maybe he went to prison (as the author's father did), or maybe he was forced to leave his family for some other reason. He says, "I'm sorry I will not be coming home," so we can assume it's not a deployment or temporary disruption. But he does write his son a letter encouraging him to be good and be himself, despite the absence of the father. A truly bittersweet story about the love of a parent who's not there.
When Bryan Collier writes in his Note that “This book is not just about loss, but about hope, making healthy choices, and not letting our past define our future,” he’s talking to kids everywhere that are dealing with a deck that’s stacked against them. They don’t get enough books, those kids, about lives like their own. Fortunately, once in a great while, a book comes along that fulfills that gaping need. This year, it’s this book. Next year? Who knows? But as long as there are children struggling along without their parents, Knock Knock is going to have a job to do.