WHAT DADS CAN’T DO

Cushman (The Mystery of the Monkey’s Maze, 1999, etc.) gives this sugary recitation of paternal imperatives an unusual slant by portraying child and dad as a single-parent family, but that’s about all it has going for it. With breezy assurance the young narrator lists all of Dad’s faults: he “can't cross the street without holding hands,” can push a swing but not sit in one; loses at checkers and cards; needs “help” shaving, cooking, and reading; likes to give baths but can’t help getting splashed, and so forth. The child, who, like his ingenuous-looking father, is portrayed as a green, iguana-like creature with hair and human clothing, finishes on a heavily reassuring note: Dad “never quits” (children of divorced or separated parents will certainly buy that) and “never ever stops loving you.” Compared to the more natural give and take of Virginia Miller's George and Bartholomew stories (Be Gentle!, 1997, etc.), the father/son relationship here leaves no room for individuality, and comes across more as wishful thinking than any sort of achievable model. (Picture book. 6-8)