What Dads Can't Do

by Douglas Wood, Doug Cushman (Illustrator)

Overview

There are lots of things that regular people can do but dads can't.
Dads can't cross the street without holding hands.
They can push, but can't swing.
When dads play hide-and-seek they always get found, but they have a hard time finding you.
Dads really need to be kissed good night at bedtime.
It's a wonder they make it through life at all!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689826207
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	05/01/2000
Edition description:	Repackage
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	183,691
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD460L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Douglas Wood is the author of A Quiet Place as well as the New York Times bestselling Can’t Do series. His books Old Turtle and Old Turtle and the Broken Truth were both international bestsellers. He lives in a cabin in the woods of Minnesota. A studied naturalist, Douglas shares his knowledge of nature as a wilderness guide. Visit him at DouglasWood.com.

Doug Cushman has illustrated over 130 children’s books, thirty or so of which he also wrote. His titles have been New York Times bestsellers and won awards including the Christopher Award, the California Young Readers Medal, and two Maryland Blue Crab Awards. Doug was also the recipient of a National Cartoonists Society Newspaper and Magazine Illustration Award, and he has displayed original art in France, Romania, and the United States. Doug enjoys mystery novels, playing slide guitar horribly, cooking, and traveling. He lives in St. Malo on the Brittany coast in France.

Editorial Reviews

In an intergenerational tribute to matriarchs, What Grandmas Can't Do by Douglas Wood, illus. by Doug Cushman, joyfully enumerates all of the activities that require the help of a grandchild: baking "your favorite cookies," for instance, or telling stories (Grandmas "need a really good listener"). The first two books in this popular series are now available in mini-editions: What Moms Can't Do and What Dads Can't Do. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2-A little green dinosaur gives examples of the "things that regular people can do but dads can't," such as cross the street without holding hands, read a book by themselves, or play hide-and-seek without always getting found. This amusing picture book will tickle youngsters' funny bones and make every parent and child smile with recognition. The simple, large-print text consists of one sentence per page. The negative litany is of course a reflection of the efforts of loving fathers to make their sons feel good about themselves. "Dads like to go camping, but they need lots of help setting up the tent. And cooking. Dads like to go fishing, but they don't like to go alone. And they need extra practice baiting the hook." Cushman's large, delightful, pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons are reminiscent of the characters in The ABC Mystery (HarperCollins, 1996), and they capture perfectly the father-and-son interactions of this appealing reptilian pair. "And most of all, whatever happens, a dad never ever stops loving you." Whether read one-on-one or in a group, this story is sure to generate smiles all around. A great choice for Father's Day programs.-Wanda Meyers-Hines, Huntsville/Madison County Public Library, Huntsville, AL Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

School Library Journal

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)

Kirkus Reviews