Tributes to fathers everywhere

REVIEWS BY ROBIN SMITH

Though Mother's Day is the holiday filled with handmade cards and sloppy presents, Father's Day beats all for children's books. The saccharine count is a lot lower and the stories tend to be more pleasantly realistic for my taste. So climb up on Dad's lap and cuddle up with one of these wonderful new books about fathers and their children.

Dan Yaccarino's Every Friday was the first book I read this year and I have read it aloud many times in the months since. I am familiar with Yaccarino's books and the animated series Oswald, but I was simply bowled over by the magical simplicity of this story of a father and son together in the city. "Friday is my favorite day," the little boy states on the first page. And, soon, we find out why. Friday is his morning to have breakfast at the diner with dad. Getting there is half the fun. We see the twosome, in all sorts of weather, making their way past the familiar shops, waving at the familiar people and counting the familiar dogs along the way. And when they get to the diner at last, their waitress knows just what the little boy wants: pancakes. Yaccarino's retro illustrations with their clean, deep colors, make this a book to visit again and again. The close-up near the end says it all, "While we eat, Dad and I talk about all sorts of things." Taking the time to talk and be listened to is what all children want, and this book reminds us why those simple times are so important.


"I'm Not Scared" insists Baby Owl in Jonathan Allen's newest offering of the same name. In this sequel to the humorous and satisfying I'm Not Cute, Baby Owl is out for a late-night stroll with his stuffed owl doll, Owly. He meets various animal friends who, upon seeing his frightened eyes, keep assuring him, "It's only me... what are you doing out so late?" Despite Baby Owl's raised, terrified eyebrows, he retorts, "I'm NOT scared! I'm an owl, and owls stay up all night!" When Papa finds his son, Baby insists that it's his doll Owly who is scared, and Papa knows just the right thing to do. He gives Owly and Baby Owl a big hug and a favorite story before tucking them into a warm bed. Your little Baby Owl will love this—a perfect bedtime book.


Papi's Gift written by Karen Stanton and illustrated by René King Moreno, is a different kind of Father's Day book. Stanton tells the story of Graciela, a seven-year-old girl in an unnamed South American country. Though she talks to her father every weekend, he has been away in California for so long that she fears she is forgetting his face. A drought in her country has forced her father to earn a living far away, and Graciela and her family miss him terribly. She waits and waits for a promised birthday package, but it never comes. On her birthday, her father explains, "I'm afraid it might be lost." But Graciela, like children everywhere, is not placated and retorts, "You promised it would be here for my birthday." Gentle pastels highlight the loving family, even when they are heartbroken with worry and loneliness. Papi might live far away, but he is an important member of this family. Many children have fathers who work in distant places and Papi's Gift serves as a reminder that no matter how far away he is, a father is always a father.


If: A Father's Advice to His Son is the poem that fathers and son seem to share more than any other. No namby-pamby, overly sweet stuff from Rudyard Kipling! Charles R. Smith Jr., a respected poet himself, has taken Kipling's familiar poem to new heights in this edition by adding his own boy-friendly, sports photographs. Smith's stark, dramatic photographs complement each line of the poem, from the soccer player heading the ball in the opening line "If you can keep your head when all about you/Are losing theirs and blaming it on you," to the almost spiritual shadow of a man and his son at the end. It's interesting that Smith chooses to photograph each athlete—from the smallest Little Leaguer to the mature high school runner—from the back, making each figure into an Everyman. If is a sentimental favorite, expertly repackaged here for today's fathers and sons.


Robin Smith teaches second grade in Nashville and misses her father far away in New England.

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