DADDY'S BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPING ADVENTURE

Even the best-laid plans pale in the face of nostalgia….

Today is the day Mommy and Daddy are taking their little “Pickle Quackers” back-to-school shopping. And for the hundred-millionth time, they remind Jenny and her little brother, Jake, of the No. 1 rule: “We only buy what’s on the list.” But when Mommy goes to shop for some household items and leaves Daddy in charge, he’s assaulted by requests of all sorts, which he refuses…until he wants something for himself that isn’t on the list. In a wonderfully funny role reversal, Jenny crosses her arms and stands firm, while Jake brandishes the list and smugly states, “Not seeing it here.” The coveted item is the very lunchbox that Daddy loved as a child, and he just has to have it, even if that means buying a cartload of items that similarly are not on the list. But then Mommy returns and puts paid to the foolishness, though maybe there is room on the list for a gift….Carter’s illustrations, which appear to be watercolor, depict a close family that knows how to have fun, even when shopping: they try out a crazy new clothing style. Her facial expressions are masterful, especially in the scene in which Daddy hugs the lunchbox in the store, shoppers looking at him askance.

Sure to induce giggles and maybe even defuse some tension surrounding kids’ own back-to-school shopping.