Our Favourite Fictional Dads

Posted on 16 June 2015

With Father’s Day only a few days away, we’ve been chatting a lot around the office about our favourite fictional dads. From lawyers and wizards, to foxes and bears, here’s our list celebrating dads of all shapes, sizes and species.

The first name on everyone’s lips was Atticus Finch – the fiercely brave lawyer and loving father from To Kill a Mockingbird . His honourable actions at home and at work sometimes make it hard to remember he’s only a fictional character, with memorable quotes to live by seared in our memories:

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. – Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

Danny’s dad, William, from Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World topped many of our lists. The book is a heart-warming testament to the boundless love between a parent and child, best summed up by Danny: “It is impossible to tell you how much I loved my father. When he was sitting close to me on my bunk, I would reach out and slide my hand into his and then he would fold his long fingers around my fist, holding it tight.”

No list of loving fathers would be complete without Arthur Weasley from the Harry Potter series – a brilliant father to his brood of children and father figure to Harry himself. It’s his keen interest in the world, his eternal tinkering with Muggle objects, the occasional embarrassment he causes his children (which I’m sure many of us can relate to), his undying love and his bravery in the face of danger that endears him to me.

In a similar vein is Alfie Bloom’s dad, William, from new novel Alfie Bloom and the Secrets of Hexbridge Castle , who has become a fast favourite around the office: “Alfie felt as though they were on a marvellous adventure together, and he wrapped his arms around his stomach to try to trap the warm feeling it gave him inside.”

Some of our favourite fictional dads pepper the pages of picture books, which make them perfect for sharing with your own children this Father’s Day. Our favourites include Julia Donaldson’s Stick Man who desperately want to get home to his family for Christmas (“I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, I’M STICK MAN, that’s me, And I long to be back in the family tree”) and Big Bear, from Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? , which recreates a tender scene familiar all around the world with Big Bear trying to help Little Bear get to sleep.

Can’t you sleep, Little Bear?” asked Big Bear, putting down his Bear Book (which was just getting to the interesting part) and padding over to the bed. “I’m scared,” said Little Bear. “Why are you scared, Little Bear?” asked Big Bear. “I don’t like the dark,” said Little Bear. “What dark?” said Big Bear. “The dark all around us,” said Little Bear.

There are also plenty of adoptive fathers and other father figures in books for children and teens – think silent but strong Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables or Hans Huberman in The Book Thief . “Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes,” says Leisel of her adoptive papa.

This Sunday, we turn to Guess How Much I Love You and take a leaf out of Big Nutbrown Hare’s book to say to our dads, “I love you right up to the moon – AND BACK.”