ME AND DAD
From the Time Together series
by Maria Catherine ; illustrated by Pascal Campion
A slide show of snapshots of different children and their fathers spending happy times together.
Catherine’s language consists of brief phrases that always end with the word “time” to describe the series of double-page spreads of dads and children together. Campion’s illustrations appear to be digitally rendered and display an animation-style aesthetic. Beginning with “Favorite song time” and ending with a predictable “Sweet dream time,” a not-very-diverse cast of dad-child pairs plays hide-and-seek, has tea, reads fairy tales, bakes, hugs, talks, builds, rakes leaves, walks the dog and brushes teeth. Of the 14 vignettes presented, only three contain characters that are obviously not Caucasian—there’s one black pair, one Asian pair and one that could possibly be Latino. Although hair color sometimes varies between parent and child, there are no biracial pairs. Some young readers will enjoy recognizing the familiar activities that they experience with their parents, but with no story, the bland renditions of the various activities taking place and the lack of diversity, the overall appeal is low. Companion title Me and Mom is similarly flawed.
Do not spend much time deliberating about this title—pass.
(Picture book. 2-5)