HE'S YOUR DADDY

From pups and dogs to tadpoles and frogs, this book introduces young children to the names of daddy animals and those of their babies.

The rich and engaging mixed-media illustrations place the animal pairings in their natural contexts, each depicting a snapshot of their relational interactions. With rhyming sentences on every two-page spread, this inspiring volume allows children—alone or with their parents, caregivers, and/or educators—to become familiar with a dozen baby/daddy animal-name dyads. “If you were a duckling afloat on a lake, / Your daddy would be a colorful drake.” Each particular name is set off from the rest of the text in colored, boldfaced, and italicized text. The rhythmical writing, alongside the soft humor it encompasses, allows for the new information to be effortlessly internalized and committed to memory. One delightful, crowd-pleasing twist is in the transition from a father robin feeding his hatchlings to a different kind of hatchling: “a DINOSAUR!” The book is complemented with useful and well-thought-out enhancements: a narrative to spark conversation, further information on all animals mentioned in the previous pages, a matching game, and tips for reading.

A clever, multispecies celebration of the father-child bond.