My Dad Is a Tree

In this comic dialogue from Agee (Otto: A Palindrama), a child plotting to stay outside "all day long" invites a parent to engage in pretend play--as a tree. In response to young Madeleine's inducement to "pretend your arms are branches... and then stand in one place. Like this," Dad obediently spreads his arms wide, "but only for a minute." A page turn later, Agee's signature illustrations show a small gray owl landing on Dad's shoulder. Soon, more birds appear ("A robin is making a nest in your hair!"), and before long, Dad is closer to the outdoors than he had bargained for ("You are a very good tree!"). As the farce builds beyond believable proportions and into moments of hilarity--Dad develops "itches and tickles" from newly resident wildlife, withstands a stuck kite, and stands tall as the weather turns foul--Madeleine sagely proffers reassurances involving trees' nature: "That's OK, Dad. Trees don't mind getting wet." It's both a satisfying role-reversal comedy, as Madeleine cheerfully bulldozes hapless Dad, and a quirky meditation on the human capacity for transformation. The characters present as white. Ages 4-8. (May)