The Bad Dad List - Level 23-24

The Bad Dad List is a humorous and emotionally insightful story about Chloe, a young girl adjusting to life with her unemployed dad as her primary caregiver. Chloe creates a "bad dad list" as she navigates her changing family dynamics and a missed class trip. Written by Anna Kenna and illustrated by David Elliot, this 32-page narrative encourages discussion about family, resilience, and personal growth. Chloe's strong narrative voice allows students to explore character development and infer meaning from text and illustrations. Though her perspective is self-centred, the story invites reflection on empathy, responsibility, and changing roles within families. This book supports emotional literacy and offers a lens into realistic family situations, perfect for personal development and social learning contexts.

Educational Benefits:

• Encourages understanding of character motivation and emotional growth
• Supports inferencing skills through visual and textual clues
• Fosters discussion around empathy and family relationships
• Strengthens narrative comprehension and theme identification

Classroom Ideas:

• Create a œgood dad list to show character growth
• Role-play scenes to explore character feelings and resolutions
• Write a personal narrative about a family change or experience
• Discuss the concept of fairness and perspective in storytelling

Information:

• Ages: 8-10
• Reading Level: 23-24 (Silver)