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YOU AND ME, ME AND YOU

A charming reminder to stop and smell the roses with a child.

In perfect pairings, Tanco’s spare illustrations combine with brief text to show all the joys and wonders children introduce to their parents’ lives.

“I take you to places you’ve never seen…” shows the duo in their almost-empty living room, each in a separate cardboard box with a broom oar, colanders perched atop their heads, lost to imaginative play. With the turn of the page, “and get wet with you in the rain” pictures the two as the only bright spots of color amid a street lined with barely seen faces underneath stark black umbrellas. The father is gently smiling as he folds his umbrella, the yellow-slicker–clad child joyously dancing in a puddle. Especially appealing is the lesson on how to slow down: the two sit on the grass in a park watching a line of ants. The illustration choices have a definitely quirky European aesthetic, the scenes incorporating some Old World charm around the skinny, superelongated figures. Done in what appears to be pen and ink, pops of orange and yellow enliven the scenes and focus readers’ attention. The child is blond, the father dark-haired; both are paper-white. While readers may see a male pair, the pictures are fairly open, and these lessons could apply to any adult-child combination.

A charming reminder to stop and smell the roses with a child. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: April 11, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4521-4486-3

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017

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PAPA DOESN'T DO ANYTHING!

A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.

In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.

Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.

A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: May 13, 2025

ISBN: 9781250393975

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: today

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YOUR BABY'S FIRST WORD WILL BE DADA

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it.

A succession of animal dads do their best to teach their young to say “Dada” in this picture-book vehicle for Fallon.

A grumpy bull says, “DADA!”; his calf moos back. A sad-looking ram insists, “DADA!”; his lamb baas back. A duck, a bee, a dog, a rabbit, a cat, a mouse, a donkey, a pig, a frog, a rooster, and a horse all fail similarly, spread by spread. A final two-spread sequence finds all of the animals arrayed across the pages, dads on the verso and children on the recto. All the text prior to this point has been either iterations of “Dada” or animal sounds in dialogue bubbles; here, narrative text states, “Now everybody get in line, let’s say it together one more time….” Upon the turn of the page, the animal dads gaze round-eyed as their young across the gutter all cry, “DADA!” (except the duckling, who says, “quack”). Ordóñez's illustrations have a bland, digital look, compositions hardly varying with the characters, although the pastel-colored backgrounds change. The punch line fails from a design standpoint, as the sudden, single-bubble chorus of “DADA” appears to be emanating from background features rather than the baby animals’ mouths (only some of which, on close inspection, appear to be open). It also fails to be funny.

Plotless and pointless, the book clearly exists only because its celebrity author wrote it. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: June 9, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-250-00934-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015

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