My Dad - Hardcover

Browne, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374351015 ISBN 13: 9780374351014

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2001

Synopsis

From the 2000 Hans Christian Andersen Medalist

In an endearing homage to dads everywhere, a boy describes -- and exaggerates -- the many accomplishments and feats of his father. Among the traits praised are his enormous talent for singing, his near-professional wrestling skills, his extreme bravery in the face of danger (he's not even afraid of the Big Bad Wolf!), and his ability to -- quite literally, in Anthony Browne's world -- eat like a horse. All of the pictures feature the lovable pater in his signature plaid bathrobe, adding a further comfy layer to a book whose ultimate message is "I love my dad. And you know what? HE LOVES ME! (And he always will.)".

About this title

Review:

According to one little boy, his dad is just about the coolest thing since sliced bread. Equally at ease jumping over the moon and banishing the Big Bad Wolf, this fearless father, in his hideous brown plaid bathrobe and blue-striped pajamas, seems capable of anything. The awe and admiration in his son's tone are gratifying; his hyperboles are droll. "He's as strong as a gorilla, and as happy as a hippopotamus. He's all right, my dad." Dad appears (always in a robe and PJs) as a weightlifting, goofy gorilla and a frolicking hippo. At other times he's a brown plaid fish ("He can swim like a fish"), a placid-faced wrestler ("He can wrestle with giants"), and a tightrope walker (the tightrope looks remarkably like a clothesline, with Dad circumnavigating rainbow-colored socks).

Anthony Browne, award-winning author and illustrator of Willy's Pictures and many other witty picture books, pays bright and loving homage to that most remarkable of beings, the dad. Every illustration depicts the world as seen from the low height of the little boy narrator and through his starry-eyed gaze, as well. Sure, we might look at this man and see a slightly overweight fellow with five o'clock shadow and poor taste in nightwear, but to his son, this is Man. He is everything. And until that fateful day when the boy begins to roll his eyes at his dad's hopelessly embarrassing ways, Dad should just revel in the divine, unadulterated love of his child. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

About the Author:

Anthony Browne is a two-time winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal. His many children's books include Gorilla and Willy the Champ. He lives in Kent, England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0374351015
• ISBN 13: 9780374351014
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Editor: Ferguson Margaret
• Illustrator: Browne Anthony