Ask Me

Lee makes masterful drawing look deceptively simple, creating visual appeal for readers of all ages. Sublimely satisfying.

An easy text for new readers, it could also help tuck in a toddler with a sweet good night.

PreS-Gr 2--A vivacious child and her father share an early autumn stroll. "Ask me what I like," she says. Dad's dutiful answer is printed in purple: "What do you like?" Energetically she answers with a list. Sometimes dad presses for details, "Geese in the sky? Or geese in the water?" She answers, "I like geese in the sky. No, in the water. I like both. Ask me what else I like," she demands, seeing something new she wants to tell him about. So they proceed through their day, celebrating the brief but precious time when children are gaining a sense of self and exploring the power that comes with it. The patience required to converse with a small person who wants to dictate every part of the interaction is sure to be familiar to parents, but the poetic text rises above the mundane and captures the beauty, energy, and innocence of these conversations and holds them up for readers to appreciate without becoming saccharine or trite. Lee's lively, colored-pencil drawings are a perfect match to the text. The line drawings are similar in style to those in Wave (2008) and Shadow (2010, both Chronicle), but Lee expands from the single-color palette she employed in those titles to a full spectrum of bright autumn colors. VERDICT A first choice for libraries, especially those looking to expand their selection of father-as-caregiver stories.--Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN

In this posthumously published tale by Waber, best known for his Lyle the Crocodile books, a girl directs a conversation with her father. "Ask me what I like," she says. "What do you like?" he asks. Lee (Open This Little Book) pictures the duo on a park outing, and the girl delights in falling leaves as she admires the natural surroundings ("I like geese in the sky. No, in the water. I like both"). After naming many favorite things, she gets more specific: "How come birds build nests?" Her father warmly responds, "All right, how come birds build nests?" sustaining the give-and-take. The girl's words appear in black type and the father's in dark blue, so readers know who is speaking despite the untagged dialogue and lack of quotation marks. Taking advantage of negative space to emphasize a bright sky, people's faces, and the girl's swingy dress, Lee lines the characters in charcoal-gray pencil and frames the pages in scribbles of maple-leaf red, autumnal gold, and denim blue. The easygoing verbal exchange and affectionate visuals celebrate a close father-daughter relationship while recognizing beauty in everyday simplicity. Ages 4-8. (July)