I always check out the dedication page in the books I read. The words can tell me volumes about authors and why they sent their creations into the world. This is the case with My Dad is a DJ, written by National Book Award winner Katherine Erskine and Keith Henry Brown, and also illustrated by Brown.

            Katherine Erskine dedicates the book to, “…kids whose families change.” Her message to those children is, “Your folks still love you.” Page by page, the book portrays a reassurance of that love. At the beginning of the story, we see Trevor and his DJ dad connecting over music. Evenings, Trevor would listen to his father’s radio show then wait up for his return, at which point the two would eat Rocky Road ice cream, share ear buds, and listen to Earth, Wind and Fire. These great details convey the intimacy between the father and son.

            All that changes when Trevor’s father moves out. Trevor makes a new friend, develops a different taste in music, prefers different food, and feels as if he’s growing into a different person. Trevor believes that he and his father are drifting away from each other.

            In his dedication, Keith Henry Brown says, “To all those magnificent single women who brought up all these fine boys to be extraordinary men.” In the story, when Trevor wonders if his close relationship with his father is gone forever, his mother urges him to reach out to his father, saying, “You and your dad need to find your new groove.”

            Trevor and his father do find a new groove via approaching music in a collaborative way, with Trevor adding voice-overs, upbeat tempos, beat boxing and scratching to his father’s classic songs. The result? A school dance party where both the kids and adults groove to the newly mixed tunes. Everyone is happy, including Trevor’s father. For the first time ever, he invites Trevor to DJ the dance with him.

            Keith Henry Brown is the creative director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. His lifelong love of music reverberates on every page, with shout outs to great musicians and terrific songs. He is the father of two sons and says that much of his writing is based on his relationship with them.

            This is a moving and entertaining book that takes a realistic look on a tough subject and does so in a warm and reassuring way.