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Your Baby's First Word Will Be DADA
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Picture Books (2015)Your baby's first word will be . . .
"Dada!"
Right?
Everyone knows that fathers wage a secret campaign to ensure that their babies' first word is "Dada!"
But how does it work?
One of the most popular entertainers in the world and NBC's The Tonight Show host, Jimmy Fallon, shows you how.
"Dada!"
Right?
Everyone knows that fathers wage a secret campaign to ensure that their babies' first word is "Dada!"
But how does it work?
One of the most popular entertainers in the world and NBC's The Tonight Show host, Jimmy Fallon, shows you how.
34 pages, Board Book
First published June 9, 2015
22 people are currently reading
1858 people want to read
About the author
Jimmy Fallon
23 books327 followersJames Thomas Fallon, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, and musician known for his work on Saturday Night Live. He is also scheduled to become the host of Late Night in 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 470 reviews
August 7, 2015
WOW, why all the hate for this book?
Uh oh, I'm sensing a rant coming on.
So. You resent that Jimmy Fallon is a celebrity, and had the star status and money to not only write a book but promote the hell out of it? That because he is famous, his book got written?
I have news for you. He is FAR from the first. There are many, many MANY books out there - I work at a library, and I've seen them firsthand - published on that basis. Seriously. There are thousands.
I'd like to add, that lots of them are intended for adults to read. So read those, and rate them on the way they appeal to you; that's fair. Reading this book AS AN ADULT, and saying it's boring and the pictures are repetitive, is not fair. This book is for babies.
A news flash: BABIES LOVE REPETITIVE STUFF. They love to play the same damn game ten times in a row and they'll play it for an eleventh time if you're willing. They want to read the books they like, over and over and over and over and over ad nauseum, amen. Why do adults expect kids' stuff to entertain them too all the time? I can't stand Thomas the Train, but my little guy loves it, so we watch it again and again. And again. And again.
Yes, books like Go the F*** to Sleep and movies like Shrek have spoiled parents into thinking that their kids' entertainment ought to entertain them as well. But some of our most treasured classics could be seen as boring and repetitive:
Good Night Moon.
Guess How Much I Love You?
Dear Zoo.
You get the drift. This book is repetitive? That puts it in some pretty good company, then.
I'm going to rate this book based on how its ACTUAL TARGET AUDIENCE responded to it. My 17 month old son loved it. He loved the animal sounds, he recited "Dada" along with me, and pointed at his own "dada", and he demanded the book read again, and again, and again. We read it four times in a row. As far as I could tell, the book was a hit.
I'm not defending the book because I worship Jimmy Fallon or anything - I like him fine, but that's it - I just think it's annoying to judge a book clearly written for babies on its appeal to adults. Or to be mad that the book was published because the author is a wealthy celebrity with a media outlet to advertise on. Who cares? Fallon isn't the first, and he definitely won't be the last.
OK, rant over. Who woulda thought this silly little book would have prompted all this deep thinking!? LOL.
Uh oh, I'm sensing a rant coming on.
So. You resent that Jimmy Fallon is a celebrity, and had the star status and money to not only write a book but promote the hell out of it? That because he is famous, his book got written?
I have news for you. He is FAR from the first. There are many, many MANY books out there - I work at a library, and I've seen them firsthand - published on that basis. Seriously. There are thousands.
I'd like to add, that lots of them are intended for adults to read. So read those, and rate them on the way they appeal to you; that's fair. Reading this book AS AN ADULT, and saying it's boring and the pictures are repetitive, is not fair. This book is for babies.
A news flash: BABIES LOVE REPETITIVE STUFF. They love to play the same damn game ten times in a row and they'll play it for an eleventh time if you're willing. They want to read the books they like, over and over and over and over and over ad nauseum, amen. Why do adults expect kids' stuff to entertain them too all the time? I can't stand Thomas the Train, but my little guy loves it, so we watch it again and again. And again. And again.
Yes, books like Go the F*** to Sleep and movies like Shrek have spoiled parents into thinking that their kids' entertainment ought to entertain them as well. But some of our most treasured classics could be seen as boring and repetitive:
Good Night Moon.
Guess How Much I Love You?
Dear Zoo.
You get the drift. This book is repetitive? That puts it in some pretty good company, then.
I'm going to rate this book based on how its ACTUAL TARGET AUDIENCE responded to it. My 17 month old son loved it. He loved the animal sounds, he recited "Dada" along with me, and pointed at his own "dada", and he demanded the book read again, and again, and again. We read it four times in a row. As far as I could tell, the book was a hit.
I'm not defending the book because I worship Jimmy Fallon or anything - I like him fine, but that's it - I just think it's annoying to judge a book clearly written for babies on its appeal to adults. Or to be mad that the book was published because the author is a wealthy celebrity with a media outlet to advertise on. Who cares? Fallon isn't the first, and he definitely won't be the last.
OK, rant over. Who woulda thought this silly little book would have prompted all this deep thinking!? LOL.
August 26, 2015
The book itself is kind of cute, but here's why I'm giving this book one star: the only thing selling this book is the name on the cover. There is actually no story here. So saying that Jimmy Fallon "wrote" this book is laughable. OK. Yeah. He had an idea for a children's picture book. Whatever. But then for the publisher to make the incredibly ungracious decision to not only leave the illustrator's name off the cover but also include no bio information of the artist on the back flap next to Jimmy's? Not cool.
Jimmy Fallon seems like a really gregarious, unassuming sort of person. I have a sense that these types of decisions were purely from those in the marketing department. Regardless, the decisions that were made to go against the normal conventions of a children's picture book make Jimmy out to be an ungracious ego maniac. If you're a celebrity and you're going to tout yourself as an author, then fine, be an author. But don't pretend to be an author while everyone else does the work and you just slap your name on the cover. Again, not cool.
Jimmy Fallon seems like a really gregarious, unassuming sort of person. I have a sense that these types of decisions were purely from those in the marketing department. Regardless, the decisions that were made to go against the normal conventions of a children's picture book make Jimmy out to be an ungracious ego maniac. If you're a celebrity and you're going to tout yourself as an author, then fine, be an author. But don't pretend to be an author while everyone else does the work and you just slap your name on the cover. Again, not cool.
February 13, 2022
Funny book - should be of interest to Jimmy Fallon fans and children alike. There seems to be a trend of famous people doing books for children - talk about life long fans! I would actually like to see more books for children from famous people talking about how they overcame problems getting to where they are today.
July 14, 2015
I hate when people I like and admire write bad books. I also hate how everyone has suddenly decided that they can write children's books. Writing books for children is an art form and I don't need to crowd my shelves with more garbage from celebrities that publish books because they can.
November 13, 2015
The whole family is reading all these Goodreads Children's Illustrated book nominees for 2015 and rating all of them. This is #19 of 20 for us.
I will contend that the ONLY reason this makes the list is because it sold a lot of copies (on Amazon, so the list becomes a marketing tool? Just a guess) and it sold a lot of copies because it is written by Jimmy Fallon. And the premise is sorta amusing, that Dads all want their kid's first word to be dada. But it is flat, not strong, and the art is just okay compared to the art of the other entries. I didn't hate it, I just thought it was okay. But my kids could barely tolerate it. And the Goodreads community have rated it very low, 3.36 or something. Nominee caliber? Come on, Goodreads. . .
Dave 2 stars
Tara 2.5 stars
Harry (10) 2 stars
Henry (9) 1 star
Lyra (8) 1.5 stars
The kid ratings are the killer here. It's not just me. . .
I will contend that the ONLY reason this makes the list is because it sold a lot of copies (on Amazon, so the list becomes a marketing tool? Just a guess) and it sold a lot of copies because it is written by Jimmy Fallon. And the premise is sorta amusing, that Dads all want their kid's first word to be dada. But it is flat, not strong, and the art is just okay compared to the art of the other entries. I didn't hate it, I just thought it was okay. But my kids could barely tolerate it. And the Goodreads community have rated it very low, 3.36 or something. Nominee caliber? Come on, Goodreads. . .
Dave 2 stars
Tara 2.5 stars
Harry (10) 2 stars
Henry (9) 1 star
Lyra (8) 1.5 stars
The kid ratings are the killer here. It's not just me. . .
July 13, 2015
This was a wonderful book. As a therapist for the birth to three set, this will be added to my library of staple books, right up there with Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I am very disappointed that the last line was not,mama. That would have been both true and funny Jimmy Fallon. Please consider for future publications ;)
March 10, 2017
My son loves this book and has since we first read it when he was eight months old. It is one of the few books he actually sits and actively engages with. It is a book for babies, people, so if your child is not a baby, don't bash it.
December 31, 2015
I am cool with celebrities wanting to be published. Seeing your work in print and brought to life with cute illustrations is super awesome. What I am not cool with is publishers producing a bad book and promoting the heck out of it. Either help the author make the book better or just don't do it. For goodness sake this title has been produced as a board and picture book simultaneously. So many way more worthy books that could use a fraction of that promotion and financial backing headed their way.
June 13, 2015
Simple, but humorous. Perfect for Daddy and their little one. I think that it fits Jimmy Fallon's personality as a father perfectly. If you expect the humor that you get on a late night, no-children-allowed show, then don't get this book.
May 9, 2017
Okay. That was interesting. I picked this book up at my local library because there were too many books on the shelf and I'd been shelving stuff got a good 45 minutes already. This probably took JF about 2 minutes to write. The illustrations were decent. Like I could have written this book, people in my class who hate reading or writing could have written this book. But it's a book that you'd read to a very little baby. And I mean a very little baby It would do better in board book form in my humble opinion. It's kinda sad though that the illustrator didn't get more credit. Like his name isn't even on the front of the book and he doesn't have a bio. His name is mentioned briefly on the title page and that is all. Well, color me a bit disappointed. Jimmy is funny, but I often find Celebrity books rather disappointing.
August 19, 2016
Hands down, this is my 16-month-old grandson's favorite book. I've been visiting for 6 weeks now and I doubt a day has gone by that he hasn't brought me this book to read to him - over and over and over. One day I drew the line at eight straight re-readings, though. And it's not just me. Everyone else in the family reads it to him, too.
There is only one word per page for most of the book, the word "Dada" from the father animal and the corresponding animal sound from the baby. My grandson thinks my cow impression is particularly funny, for some reason.
Other popular board books with him are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Napping House and Silly Sally. But this is the favorite. Fortunately I like it, too. :)
NB- My this book has engendered a lot of controversy. As a former teacher with extensive work in Early Childhood Education, a Mom and Grandma I need to add my two cents. Not every book your child reads needs to be a classic or a work of art. Part of the point about reading to children is to share a fun experience and develop an appreciation of story. This book does that. If you don't like it, don't read it. But complaining about it shows you miss the point - does your baby or toddler like it? The simplistic pictures focus on bright colors, clean shapes and faces, all of which babies prefer to look at. The subtext is strictly for the reader and anyone else who has to hear the story read aloud multiple times. (The six year old wondered aloud if the duck dad felt sad that his baby still said quack at the end. We discussed that parents love their kids even when they're slower to learn things than other kids. A good idea for this little overachiever to think about.)
My youngest grandson uses just a few words and still only occasionally. But he now brings us this book, and proudly says 'Dada' as he turns each page, waiting for us to fill in the animal sounds. That alone makes it a success on this house.
There is only one word per page for most of the book, the word "Dada" from the father animal and the corresponding animal sound from the baby. My grandson thinks my cow impression is particularly funny, for some reason.
Other popular board books with him are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Napping House and Silly Sally. But this is the favorite. Fortunately I like it, too. :)
NB- My this book has engendered a lot of controversy. As a former teacher with extensive work in Early Childhood Education, a Mom and Grandma I need to add my two cents. Not every book your child reads needs to be a classic or a work of art. Part of the point about reading to children is to share a fun experience and develop an appreciation of story. This book does that. If you don't like it, don't read it. But complaining about it shows you miss the point - does your baby or toddler like it? The simplistic pictures focus on bright colors, clean shapes and faces, all of which babies prefer to look at. The subtext is strictly for the reader and anyone else who has to hear the story read aloud multiple times. (The six year old wondered aloud if the duck dad felt sad that his baby still said quack at the end. We discussed that parents love their kids even when they're slower to learn things than other kids. A good idea for this little overachiever to think about.)
My youngest grandson uses just a few words and still only occasionally. But he now brings us this book, and proudly says 'Dada' as he turns each page, waiting for us to fill in the animal sounds. That alone makes it a success on this house.
August 17, 2015
I was surprised by this book, despite its very simple premise. It is just as much a fun animal sound book as a humor book for parents with overly determined fathers. Very cute and fun illustrations that make this one joke book actually work as intended.
August 6, 2015
I loved this book but come on Jimmy - it might have been your idea but the real credit here should go to Miguel Ordonez. This book wouldn't be anything without the pictures and you couldn't even share cover or end flap space? That's ridiculous.
June 15, 2015
This is one of the worst childrens' books I've ever read. How it got published is a mystery to me. It is repetitive nonsense with boring illustrations.
February 14, 2016
I saw this one pop up on my twitter feed from the publisher, and after checking some things, I saw that I just wanted to read this book. This isn't because there is such a famous name attached to it, that is only a small factor. I just love picture books, and I have heard that Jimmy Fallon is quite a funny person, the illustrations also look great. Mix those together and you got my reasons why I wanted to try this book out.
I can honestly say that I am delighted with this tiny book, of course it isn't 100% good at all times, that is the reason why I gave it a 4 instead of 5 stars. It is quite repetitive, most of the book is a farm animal dads saying Dada and trying to have his kid repeat it. Of course said kid replies not with Dada but with the telltale sound of that animal (so in case of a cow it would go moo). This goes on for a few times, and does get a bit boring, but it is still funny and silly. The ending is really fun and I loved that it was added. It gave me a laugh. That poor animal though.
The illustrations are quite good, I like the style. Simplistic, but fun. The animals often wear different expressions, some are sad, others look angry, which made the story more fun. It shows that these dads are truly dedicated to having their kids say that magical word. :)
I am sure the truly little ones will love this book, it clearly campaigns for the word Dada (as the book promises), but it also gives little kids a chance to learn about animals and what sounds those animals make. It also has a cute ending that is sure to bring a smile to everyone's faces.
All in all, I would recommend this book. It might be a bit repetitive but it is still great fun.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I can honestly say that I am delighted with this tiny book, of course it isn't 100% good at all times, that is the reason why I gave it a 4 instead of 5 stars. It is quite repetitive, most of the book is a farm animal dads saying Dada and trying to have his kid repeat it. Of course said kid replies not with Dada but with the telltale sound of that animal (so in case of a cow it would go moo). This goes on for a few times, and does get a bit boring, but it is still funny and silly. The ending is really fun and I loved that it was added. It gave me a laugh. That poor animal though.
The illustrations are quite good, I like the style. Simplistic, but fun. The animals often wear different expressions, some are sad, others look angry, which made the story more fun. It shows that these dads are truly dedicated to having their kids say that magical word. :)
I am sure the truly little ones will love this book, it clearly campaigns for the word Dada (as the book promises), but it also gives little kids a chance to learn about animals and what sounds those animals make. It also has a cute ending that is sure to bring a smile to everyone's faces.
All in all, I would recommend this book. It might be a bit repetitive but it is still great fun.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
June 18, 2015
Pairs of farm animal dads and their children are showcased in spreads in which the dad tries to get the child to say "Dada." The father animals are shown with angry, frustrated looks on their faces, while each farm baby makes the sound it's supposed to make (i.e. cow baby moos, mouse baby squeaks etc).
There's not a lot going on here. The formula is simple and the big pay off in the end is supposed to be all the farm babies saying "Dada" together excepting the duck baby who still quacks.
Skip this.
There's not a lot going on here. The formula is simple and the big pay off in the end is supposed to be all the farm babies saying "Dada" together excepting the duck baby who still quacks.
Skip this.
February 9, 2016
Ok I love Jimmy Fallon, he makes me laugh, and that's not easy to do (it might be because I'm tired , but still it works.) This book is more for my son even though it's my grandaughter's ( Feb. selection) since he is so very proud of his girls and also pretty competitive. Really we've known for years this is what men do while they're in charge; come on baby, "say dada" first, lol.
August 13, 2015
I love Jimmy Fallon, but this book is terrible. It is clear that he only got it published because of who he is. Kids will NOT get that the parent is saying DADA in an attempt to get the kids to say it. If anything, this is more parent humor. UGH!
July 23, 2016
This was a cute little read. My baby girl's first words we're Dada. My daughter enjoyed this book and the pictures! It made her giggle and smile! I would recommend it.
May 12, 2024
This one came highly recommended by my 2 y/o niece, but I was disappointed, at least from a literary standpoint. Fallon’s thesis, “Your child’s first word will be DADA”, is contrary to the statistics and scientific research. Not to mention the climax of the arc was just within the final two pages.
I can’t yet speak to his other work (This is Mama, Nana Loves You More, etc.) but I think Fallon needs to pull his act together if he really wants a career in board book literature.
I can’t yet speak to his other work (This is Mama, Nana Loves You More, etc.) but I think Fallon needs to pull his act together if he really wants a career in board book literature.
January 23, 2021
The 7-month-old loved this book and the different animal sounds. I discovered that he thinks donkey impressions are hilarious.
June 16, 2015
So many naysayers! I love Jimmy Fallon, so maybe I am a bit biased. I got this as a board book because my sister recently just had her first baby. I had already gotten Love You Forever for her, since it was the book she and I both grew up on. But I wanted to get something for her husband too, so he could have something to read with baby.
I found this little gem while wandering through Barnes and Noble. It's simple, and very short. It is a slew of barnyard animals trying to get their babies to say "Dada!" It is good to help introduce babies to the sounds that animals make, and obviously in the hope that their first word is "Dada," it is written on every page. It's cute, and something they will outgrew fairly quickly.
What really got me and convinced me to buy it was the About the Author on the back. Go ahead, go read it. I laughed and then I bought the book.
I found this little gem while wandering through Barnes and Noble. It's simple, and very short. It is a slew of barnyard animals trying to get their babies to say "Dada!" It is good to help introduce babies to the sounds that animals make, and obviously in the hope that their first word is "Dada," it is written on every page. It's cute, and something they will outgrew fairly quickly.
What really got me and convinced me to buy it was the About the Author on the back. Go ahead, go read it. I laughed and then I bought the book.
July 6, 2015
Illustrations were great! Could've been executed better. In my opinion, it may be confusing to some small children.
August 6, 2015
Adorable! And funny!
August 16, 2015
Cute book.
August 30, 2015
A perfect book for a concerned father of an impressionable 8-month-old daughter on the path to "mama".
January 1, 2019
Another book I read to my son every day. It’s precious, but I’m done with it.
August 26, 2019
My wife likes this book more than I do.
June 3, 2023
90% of the pages only have one word on them which is excellent for my infant son who takes the greatest joy in just quickly turning pages and seeing the pictures.
Sure enough, his favorite word is Dada. ;)
Sure enough, his favorite word is Dada. ;)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 470 reviews