The Daddy Book

It's cute, for whatever that's worth. It's just a list of things that different daddies might do. There are a few things that are about the daddies themselves, but mostly it's about what they like to do with their children. One slightly creepy page: "All daddies like to watch you sleep!" Another one some people might take issue with: "All daddies like to kiss and hug you". I'm sure there are some great fathers that don't. But of course, for the most part, daddies do like to hug and kiss their children. The last page: "All daddies want you to be who you are!" If they're good daddies, they do. The ideal father wants his children to be themselves. Not all people are ideal, though, and none of us are perfect. But it's something to strive for. Children's picture books are full of daddies who want their children to be someone other than themselves. Sometimes they learn better, sometimes they don't.

It's a decent book; it's just that there's not much to it. What it is, is innocuous. There's nothing really offensive here. There's nothing particularly interesting here, either. It is great that it depicts daddies doing traditionally feminine things sometimes, such as singing, vacuuming the house, having a tea party with a little girl, and making cookies. It's nothing to run out and buy unless you're starved for books about daddies, and I think there are a lot of those out there. It's the kind of thing that would fit right in at a pediatrician's office: bland, rather inclusive, and inoffensive. Todd Parr's art is very recognizable. I'm pretty apathetic about it. Very colorful, very fun, not very realistic or traditionally "pretty."