A little girl describes the year or so after her mother's remarriage, in incidents that signify her growing relationship with her stepfather. At first, Howard isn't used to children; he puts too much food on her plate, and she gets a stomach ache when he doesn't think to ration the cashews. But as time passes and things are shared--their birthday party, a walk to gather acorns for the pigs, a difficult task like shelling limas, choosing and planting seeds--a bond forms, and strengthens, until the child is happy that Howard will be her daddy ``forever.'' Ransom has skillfully selected events that dramatize the unforced evolution of an uneasy new relationship into a comfortable, affectionate one; Wright-Frierson's realistic paintings aren't especially subtle, but they're cheerful, bright, and nicely expressive. Likable and useful. (Picture book. 3-7)
