THE BEST PART OF DADDY'S DAY

Bertie the beagle wants to grow up to be a builder, just like his dad.

In an ingenuous text, Bertie relates his day at school, which is not 100 percent terrific. It starts well, when his teacher (a poodle in fashionable purple dress and heels) tells the class they are “going to be builders,” but one of Bertie’s classmates tracks green footprints across his picture of a crane, and then he trips at lunch. Things look up after lunch, since he can spot Daddy in his crane from the top of the jungle gym, and then the class puts together “an enormous tower.” It turns out that Daddy’s day wasn’t perfect either: one of his co-workers walked across the fresh cement of his “brand new floor,” and then he tripped at lunch, too. But he spotted Bertie from his crane, which made him feel better. They both agree that the best part of their day is being together. Alexander’s watercolors depict no mommy, and it’s nice to see this capable, loving single dad. Bertie’s class is nicely diverse, counting terriers of several sorts as well as retrievers and poodles in its numbers. Children will appreciate the parallels in Bertie’s and Daddy’s days as well as the acknowledgment that everyone’s days can have ups and downs.

A pleasant celebration of father-and-son love.