Tell Me One Thing, Dad
PreSchool-K–Molly stretches out the going-to-bed routine with a question-and-answer session about various creatures–a dinosaur, a polar bear, a crocodile, the mythical Grimalken, and, of course, Dad. They all have the same special important quality–they love their babies. Her father's answers have a lyricism and poetry that is appealing, but the format, awkwardly set in the present tense, kills the rhythm of the text. Also, Pow fails to give Molly her own voice. When it's her turn to talk about Dad, the sophisticated rhythm of her speech doesn't seem genuine. Andrew's ink-and-watercolor illustrations have people and animals cavorting over the spreads with exuberant energy. In thumbnail sketches around the text, a dinosaur juggles an egg, a polar bear does handstands, and Molly is in four places at once. The full-page close-ups of parents and offspring are warm and whimsical. Unfortunately, the stifling structure of the Dad says/Molly says format, and the tedious repetition of such sentences as "She's thinking, then she thinks some more, and, as she thinks, Dad pretends that he's thinking even more," will lose a read-aloud audience and bore independent readers.–Jane Barrer, Washington Square Village Creative Steps, New York CityCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.