A sweet, honest parenthood tale.
What to expect when you’re expecting, in epistolary, picture-book form.
In playful rhyme, a father writes to his daughter about what it means to be a man raising a young girl. First comes the excitement of knowing that the mother is pregnant, which the expectant parents gladly announce to the world. But when Mommy asks, “Daddy, what do you hope the baby will be?” he’s unsure how to respond. At first, he imagines that he wants a boy, but then he’s cheered by the prospect of raising a girl—although he doesn’t quite know what that would entail. Nevertheless, he believes that he “could learn so much” and that “it would surely change his world.” Smith’s debut is honest about expectant fathers’ anticipation, noting how Christmas loses its luster for Daddy without a baby to share it with. While he waits, he fantasizes about having tea parties or going to the park with his daughter. Debut illustrator Duffy’s images are soft, colorful, and cartoonish—and they often include bits of humor, as when a picture of a fetus puzzling over a map pairs with “you were on the way.” Some of Daddy’s musings could have been less gender normative, but as a love letter from father to daughter, this book is sure to delight.
A sweet, honest parenthood tale.Pub Date: May 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5255-4174-2
Page Count: 52
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
With the same delightfully irreverent spirit that he brought to his retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" (1987), Marshall enlivens another favorite. Although completely retold with his usual pungent wit and contemporary touches ("I don't mind if I do," says Goldilocks, as she tries out porridge, chair, and bed), Marshall retains the stories well-loved pattern, including Goldilocks escaping through the window (whereupon Baby Bear inquires, "Who was that little girl?"). The illustrations are fraught with delicious humor and detail: books that are stacked everywhere around the rather cluttered house, including some used in lieu of a missing leg for Papa Bear's chair; comically exaggerated beds—much too high at the head and the foot; and Baby Bear's wonderfully messy room, which certainly brings the story into the 20th century. Like its predecessor, perfect for several uses, from picture-book hour to beginning reading.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1988
ISBN: 0140563660
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988
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