The first spread of this rhyming tale shows a charming domestic tableau full of affectionate detail: a teapot on the table where a brown-haired daughter plays cards with her parents, Mama’s bare feet with red toenails, and a windchime tinkling in the open window. A song on the radio brings the cry, “Dance with me, Daddy!” As he swoops her up and they sing along, waving past Mama, they dance outside, where all the cows are inspired to dance. The great willow trees, the fish, and a loon seem to join in, and soon everything from deer to hedgehogs, foxes to fieldmice, and birds to butterflies are part of the dance. “The whole world is dancing!” cries the girl, tucked into bed by her parents in the last frame. Logic is a feeble reed in this instance: the animals sport anthropomorphic expressions and are all actively participating even though it’s night, but the elusive childhood magic of dancing with one’s father is captured with all its silliness and magnificence intact. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-58089-020-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
There is something profoundly elemental going on in Smalls’s book: the capturing of a moment of unmediated joy. It’s not melodramatic, but just a Saturday in which an African-American father and son immerse themselves in each other’s company when the woman of the house is away. Putting first things first, they tidy up the house, with an unheralded sense of purpose motivating their actions: “Then we clean, clean, clean the windows,/wipe, wipe, wash them right./My dad shines in the windows’ light.” When their work is done, they head for the park for some batting practice, then to the movies where the boy gets to choose between films. After a snack, they work their way homeward, racing each other, doing a dance step or two, then “Dad takes my hand and slows down./I understand, and we slow down./It’s a long, long walk./We have a quiet talk and smile.” Smalls treats the material without pretense, leaving it guileless and thus accessible to readers. Hays’s artwork is wistful and idyllic, just as this day is for one small boy. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79899-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
PLB 0-517-70967-8 Me And My Family Tree (32 pp.; $13.00; PLB $14.99; May; 0-517-70966-X; PLB 0-517-70967-8): For children who are naturally curious about the people who care for them (most make inquiries into family relationships at an early age), Sweeney explains, with the assistance of a young narrator, the concept of a family tree. Photographs become understandable once the young girl learns the relationships among family members; she wonders what her own family tree will look like when she marries and has children. A larger message comes at the end of this story: not only does she have a family tree, but so does everyone in the world. Cable’s drawings clearly define the process of creating a family tree; she provides a blank tree so children can start on their own geneaology.(Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-517-70966-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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