April 11, 2016
In a book first published in Australia, a girl sings the praises of her father. When it comes to mowing the lawn or baking cakes, he tends to fall short, but a poorly mown lawn makes a great maze, and you can always buy sweets at the store. Working in a palette of creamy blues and greens, accented by bright reds and golds, Jellett creates an atmosphere of rowdy everyday fun in flattened, printlike illustrations of a shaggy-haired dad, his two children—and a small frog and gator thrown in for good measure. Despite the narrator’s belief that her father “is not like other dads,” most readers will recognize some of these traits in their own parents. Ages 3–6.
June 4, 2015
The eponymous Dad in this book isn’t very good at lots of things. He’s not good at mowing the lawn, he can’t bake a cake and he’s bad at fixing leaking taps. He is, however, really good at having fun. The extremely simple text by Ezekiel Kwaymullina captures all the light-hearted, good-natured fun that children and parents can enjoy, and Tom Jellett’s illustrations really extend the text and bring the story to life. Strong, full-colour pictures fill each page, making this a refreshingly unsentimental homage to fathers. My Amazing Dad is an endearing, funny book that radiates goodwill, and will be great to read aloud with children aged three and up.
Louise Pfanner is an author, illustrator and bookseller