The Birthday Present by Patricia Miles Martin is a sweet long-ish picture book that is ideal for any child but boys especially. In this warmhearted story, we meet a Kansas boy named Joey who has a problem: it is his father’s birthday and he has forgotten to plan a present for his dad.  

“This was his father’s birthday and he wasn’t ready for it. It wasn’t that his father was hard to please; it was that he’d forgotten about his birthday until this morning when his mother asked if anybody knew what date it was.” 

Joey knew that the year was 1919 and that the month was July, but other than that, he hadn’t been paying too close attention to the day. 

“He kicked the porch rail so hard he hurt his toe.”

Joey spends a little time kicking himself for not remembering and he wondered why that was. He thought about his Pa and considered what a generous and thoughtful man he was. And he thought about how he had overheard his father say to his mother one day that Joey was “about as scatterbrained as any kid in Kansas.” Joey didn’t want to be scatterbrained. And he did not want to forget his father’s birthday. 

For the rest of the day, Joey works to do something special for his father. First, he considers giving his Pa Minnie, Joey’s calf. But Ma reminds him that it isn’t right to “give a present back to the fellow who gave it to you.”

Next, Joey tries to get a special hitching post for his father from an old store that is being torn down. Ma tells him that he “couldn’t find a better present if you’d hunted a month…” But, alas, Joey is too late and the old hitching post has already been claimed. 

After that, Joey receives a beautiful beaded belt from their neighbor, Sarah. He thinks about how wonderful that belt would be to have for himself and how good a gift it would make for his father. But, then he remembers what Ma said about giving a gift you have received to someone else. The belt wouldn’t work either. 

On his way home from trying to get the hitching post, Joey sees a fawn and his able to capture it. But, Joey realizes that the fawn would never be happy away from his mother and he lets it go. 

Completely disappointed in himself, all he has for his father is an apology. But, there is something Joey didn’t know about his efforts that day. His father had been observing him and thought that Joey’s genuine efforts and selflessness were the best present of all. 

And, because the story is very sweet, there is a delightful surprise ending as well. 

At 47 small pages, this story is a longish picture book. The writing is well done but accessible for a child who is learning to read independently. Despite not being in print anymore, I had to review this one because if you spot it, it is absolutely worth grabbing. 

Learn more about this book at Biblioguides, here. Readers of Farmer Boy and Little Britches may love this one.