Superdad’s Day Off

Phil Earle's Superdad's Day Off is a funny superhero story for 5 year olds about a boy who just wants one afternoon at the park with his dad.

What happens

Stanley's dad is Dynamo Dan. Crashing comets, kidnapped queens, a billion pounds stolen from a bank. Whatever it is, he sorts it out.

All that rescuing leaves him very tired though. The bags under his eyes are bigger than suitcases! So Mum puts her foot down. From now on Fridays are for resting, and for Stan.

Stan's plan is simple. Swings, the roundabout, then ice cream. The trouble is that the whole town seems to need a superhero the minute they leave the school gates (and Dad can barely keep his eyes open).

So Stan quietly sorts things out himself. An old lady's "kitty cat" stuck at the top of a tree turns out to be a PANTHER. Stan borrows a ball of her knitting wool, plays with it up on the branch, then gives the shaking panther a piggyback all the way down.

Next comes a burst pipe that has turned a house into an ocean, shark and all. Stan surfs across it on a dustbin lid and plugs the leak with five sticks of chewed bubble gum. After that there's a monster truck with a flat tyre, and Stan holds it up with one hand.

Meanwhile Dad is snoring against a road sign.

The best bit is that Stan never makes a fuss. He just wants his dad to himself. "Car splashed me," he fibs, when he turns up dripping wet. Your reader will know exactly what really happened, which makes every fib funnier.

There's a little bit of heart under all the silliness too. Stan is super proud of his dad, but the story is honest that it can be lonely when your dad works such long hours. You can't ring someone who's busy saving the world (and the costume has no pockets for a phone anyway).

Who doesn't want to see a small boy out-rescue a superhero? The chapters are short and every rescue is bigger and sillier than the last, so it's a lovely one to read aloud together.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, Albert Johnson and the Buns of Steel is by Phil Earle too, and it has another very tired dad. Albert's dad is a Master Baker who gets up at 2 a.m. to knead his dough, and Albert would much rather be playing football.