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Check out Josh Bledsoe’s Selfie with Hammer and Nails, the story of a little girl and her dad.

This delightful touch-and-feel book is sure to be a hit with babies and toddlers. It features easy prose, colorful pictures and popular zoo animals.

Enter to win a copy of Monster Day at Work, written and illustrated by Sarah Dyer. Giveaway begins April 25, 2015, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends May 24, 2015, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

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Druthers

Written & Illustrated by Matt Phelan
Candlestick Press       9/09/2014
978-0-7636-5955-4     
32 pages        Age 2—5
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“It’s raining and raining and raining, and Penelope is bored. “What would you do if you had your druthers?” asks her daddy. Well, if Penelope had her druthers, she’d go to the zoo. Or be a cowgirl. Or a pirate captain who sails to the island of dinosaurs, or flies away on a rocket to the moon. If Penelope had her druthers, she’d go off on amazing adventures — but then again, being stuck inside may not be so bad if your daddy is along for the ride!”  [publisher]

Review
It’s a rainy day and young Ms. Penelope is bored. Rain continues flowing down the window and the sky remains dark. Dad is home reading a book—good for you dad—and he notices his daughter’s frustration and boredom. Dad asks Penelope,

“If you had your druthers, what would you do?”

“What are druthers?”

“Druthers are what you would rather do if you could do anything at all.”

Penelope decides if she had her druthers, she and dad would go to the zoo. That is just what they do. Hunkered down behind the bars of a stair railing, dad becomes a caged ape. “Ooo-ooo-ooo,” Dad calls out from his “cage.”

But druthers change and Penelope decides she would like to be a cowgirl. Dad strides one arm of the couch and his daughter the other. Together they ride their horses . . . until Penelope decides being a pirate would be fun . . . and flying to the moon . . . and . . . with dad tuckered out Penelope makes one final druthers.

“But I guess if I really had my druthers . . . “

Druthers is a wonderful book for rainy days or any boring day. It exemplifies the creativity of imagination. Dad is a hoot and the perfect parent to spend a day with, on any day. I also love that while Penelope is staring out the window waiting for the rain to stop, Dad is reading a book. What a wonderful detail to promote reading. I also love all the activities the two imagined while laughing, singing, dancing, smiling, and enjoying each other while playing together like best friends.

The illustrations are wonderful and do a great job of visualizing all of Penelope’s druthers. Kids and parents will love the story and each scenario and, like myself, all the details that make everything come alive. Druthers allows you to experience the fun, and laugh along with Dad and Penelope. There are not enough books with dad directly involved with his child. Druthers is the best “Dad book”and a wonderful gift idea for Father’s Day (tie not included).

Penelope’s really druthers,

“. . . it would rain tomorrow, too.”

Druthers is a keeper! If I had my druthers, every dad would share this book with his child(ren), boy or girl.

DRUTHERS. Text and illustrations © 2014 by Matt Phelan. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Sommerville, MA.
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Purchase Druthers at Amazon—Book Depository—Candlewick Press.

Learn more about Druthers HERE.
Meet the author/illustrator, Matt Phelan, at his website:  http://www.mattphelan.com/studio-tour.html
Find more picture books at the Candlewick Press website:  http://www.candlewick.com

Full Disclosure: Druthers, by Matt Phelan, and received from Candlewick Press, is in exchange NOT for a positive review, but for an HONEST review The opinions expressed belong to Kid Lit Reviews, and no one else. This is disclosed in accordance with The Federal Trade Commission 16CFR, Part 255: Guidelines Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Copyright © 2015 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews

Daddy Wrong Legs, by Nina Laden, is a colorful board book split down the middle and offers a top and bottom page turn.

Enter to win an autographed copy of Mighty Dads, story by award-winning author Joan Holub and illustrations by James Dean, creator of the bestselling "Pete the Cat" books. Giveaway begins April 15, 2014, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends May 14, 2014, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: June 14, 2010

Its time to celebrate dads! Here are four new books that we think daddies everywhere will find lots of fun …

Blue-Ribbon Dad

By Beth Raisner Glass (Author), Margie Moore (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 3-7

Hardcover: 32 pages

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (May 1, 2011)

By Alison Ritchie (Author), Alison Edgson (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 3-7

Hardcover: 32 pages

Publisher: Good Books (May 2011)

By Janet Nolan (Author), Kathi Ember (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 5-7

Paperback: 32 pages

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (March 1, 2011)

By Liz Rosenberg (Author), Matthew Myers (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 4-6

Hardcover: 32 pages

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (May 10, 2011)

©2011 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

By Phoebe Vreeland, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 4, 2010

The Little Green Goose

by Adele Sansone (Author), Anke Faust (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 3-8

Hardcover: 32 pages

Publisher: NorthSouth; Revised edition (May 1, 2010)

Source: Publisher

(An updated version of the book first published in 1999 with new illustrations.)

The Little Green Goose is a sweet and uncomplicated animal story about parenthood—particularly adoption and fatherhood.  After playing with the barnyard chicks, Mr. Goose longs to have a little goose of his own to call him Daddy.  None of the hens are willing to donate an egg, but fortunately Daisy the farm dog digs up a rather large, smelly egg.  Mr. Goose kicks into parent mode—even after the egg hatches and a scaly green baby dinosaur emerges. From the moment he hears “Daddy,” Mr. Goose is bound by love to his “little green goose.”

A few weeks later, Little Green Goose catches his reflection in a pond and sets out searching for his real daddy.  He questions several green animals he encounters.  Neither frog, fish nor lizard are relations.  Hungry, cold and lonely Little Green Goose slumps against a tree and cries.  It takes only a moment for the realization to sink in.  He jumps up and runs back home to Daddy Goose who welcomes his baby back with a wide open-winged embrace.

Anke Faust has used digital collage and line drawings to create a bright and lively animal world.  There are plenty of amusing details: bats sport backpacks, and lizards are equipped with climbing gear.

The story shares some themes with Leo Lioni’s An Extraordinary Egg, P.D. Eastman’s Are you my Mother? and Janell Cannon’s Stella Luna.  This book, however, is about more than mistaken identity, self-discovery or separated family.  The message of The Little Green Goose is simple: Daddy is that guy who loves you and cares for you—even if his feathers don’t match your scales.  The power of love trumps biology.

Add this book to your collection: The Little Green Goose

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