DADDY'S SANDWICH

A young girl makes Daddy a sandwich with all his favorite ingredients….

But not all of them are edible. The first couple spreads will be all too familiar to any caregiver: the little girl repeats “Daddy” louder and louder to try to get her father’s attention, but soccer on TV is distracting him. When he steals away to the kitchen for a cookie, she offers to make him a sandwich, and he offhandedly says yes (maybe he is thinking she means a pretend sandwich). But while this sandwich does have bread on top and bottom, the middle is filled with all sorts of things Dad loves: butter, a block of stinky cheese, a whole tomato—and his cellphone, Mum’s bubble bath (“he sits in there for ages”), his tool belt, etc. And the pièce de résistance? “More than anything, Daddy loves… // ME!” The book ends when Dad walks into the kitchen to view her final creation: “Daddy! Your sandwich is ready!” The adorably scribbly round-headed, big-eyed, white cherub with pink cheeks and brown pigtails is the very picture of innocence, though readers might suspect she’s not by the end. It’s difficult to tell if she knows better or she is truly naïve, as she sneaks away with Daddy’s slippers and hides behind his chair to slip away the TV remote.

This book may spark inspiration—dads best hide their treasures.