The Fathers Are Coming Home

Brown's simple text and Savage's superb linocuts combine to reassure youngest readers of their fathers' love. Each page focuses on a different creatureThe fish father swims home to his little fish that live in the gurgling brook. The illustrations convey emotion through deft line work and subtle changes in color and texture. Savage's joyful cover is duplicated on the satisfying last page when a boy's father comes home from the sea. Home to his little boy. Ages 2-5. "(Apr.)" Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS--Linocut illustrations in soft, appealing colors depict fathers returning home to their children at day's end. Animals, including a rabbit, ladybug, dog, and bird, are reunited with their offspring in their homes in a hollow tree, under a log, in a birdhouse. One child is also reunited with his sailor father returning from the sea. Mothers are never shown or mentioned. Though the bug flies, the rabbit hops, and the fish swims, there's no movement in the static pictures. Each shows the dad on one page, with one or two sentences of minimal text, facing his youngster on the other. There's not much child appeal here, but the book may reassure some children that their fathers will return home.--Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.