MY DYNAMITE DAD

A variety of little ones express love for their dads.

All the wonderful things dads do are the focus of this simple board book. Each turn of the page presents a nature shot of a fully grown animal with its young accompanied by a reason fathers are “dynamite!” While they are all good reasons, they don’t always make sense with the pictures they’re paired with. An elephant “defends me from bad guys” while standing over its child protectively, but it’s hard to figure out how a lion “laughs at all my 'knock-knock' jokes.” In the latter picture, a cub nuzzles its father’s face; there’s nothing to imply either laughter or the telling of jokes. Animal lovers will enjoy pictures of chameleons, penguins, turtles, and other creatures, but that's the only thing in the book's corner. A concurrently published companion, My Marvelous Mom, is presented in the same fashion, with the only difference being the obvious one. For readers looking for something to prime the pump for Mother's or Father's Day these will do in a pinch, but they will both be quickly forgotten.

A serviceable but uninspired salute to parenthood.