A Wild Father's Day

by Sean Callahan, Daniel Howarth (Illustrator)

Overview

When the kids give Dad a card that says, "Have a wild Father's Day," Dad knows just what to do. He says, “Let’s act like animals all day long!” They all hop on the bed like kangaroos, run like cheetahs at the park, and swing like monkeys at the playground.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807593479
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	03/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sean Callahan is a freelance journalist and children's book author. He lives in Illinois with his wife and two daughters.

Daniel Howarth trained in illustration in college. He then created his own line of greeting cards and sold them personally around southwestern England. Since then he has illustrated more than fifty children's books including Hoppy Hanukkah! and Will You Still Love Me? He and his family live in a thatched cottage in Devon along with two dogs, seventeen chickens, four ducks (and one wild rabbit).

Editorial Reviews

PreS-K

When his children present him with a card that says, "Have a wild Father's Day!," the dad suggests that they act like animals all day. First, they jump on the bed like kangaroos, then they stretch like cats, run like cheetahs, swing like monkeys, wrestle like bears, etc. Each depiction of the humans is matched with one of the animal counterparts (wearing dad's glasses, the girl's pink sneakers, and the boy's blue hat). The text is spare and straightforward; the illustrations are simple and cartoonish. Neither is remarkable. The repetitive style will help young children predict some of the activities, and they will enjoy finding the symbols for the humans on the animal spreads. This is an action-packed Father's Day addition, but it's not in the same league with John Coy's Night Driving (Holt, 1996) or William Steig 's Pete's a Pizza (HarperCollins, 1998).-Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME

School Library Journal

When the kids give Daddy a card that says, "Have a wild Father's Day," he suggests they "act like animals all day long!" So they hop like kangaroos, stretch like cats, run like cheetahs and so on. Howarth's bright but unremarkable illustrations depict father and children in the act and then juxtapose those images with the trio transformed into the animals in question, the dad animal always sporting his specs and the children in blue baseball cap (brother) and pink sneakers (sister). The text provides descriptive accompaniment for those spreads, some more fortuitous than other-"Grapple, grapple, grapple!" seems, while accurate, a little peculiar for the bears' wrestling. It's undeniably sweet enough (if not a little too), but ultimately provides nothing particularly new. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews