Martin's Father

by Bev Magennis

Martin has many reasons to believe he has the best father in the world.

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Born in Toronto, Canada
Immigrated to the US in 1964
MA in Art from Claremont Graduate University
After a 35 year career as a visual artist started writing literary fiction
Attended the Iowa Writers Workshop Summer Graduate Class/2008
Received 2010 Emerging Voices Fellowship/PEN Center USA, Los Angeles
Received a Norman Mailer Fiction Fellowship/2011/Provincetown, MA

Reviews

[Orion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin's Father is a 1971 childrens book published by Lollipop Power in Chapel Hill, NC. They were a feminist collective that published books to counteract sex-stereotyped behavior and role-models. The author, Margrit Eichler, was a professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Toronto; her research areas included non-sexist research methods, new reproductive technologies, contemporary families, and related issues. She wrote and published extensively on these subjects, as well as authored the children’s book, Martin's Father, while she was working on her PhD at Duke University.

The book portrays a typical day in the life of a single parent father and his son Martin. The father cooks breakfast, they play, do laundry together, go for a walk in the park, feed pigeons, and eat lunch. In the evening his father bathes Martin, puts him to bed, and plays him a song. Martin believes he has the best father in the world.

This book was very popular with my children when they were young and is still a powerful memory for them as adults. It is a simple yet powerful statement about single parent father families.