School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-On alternating spreads, a brother and a sister relate their daily lives with their father. The pages feature colorful paintings that, although flat and with little background detail, provide a solid backdrop for the simple rhyming couplets. The text is printed in English, Chinese, and Chinese transliterated into English, though the characters don't appear to be of any particular ethnicity. Information on the back cover notes that the text rhymes in both languages, although some couplets stretch the form: "He is strong and keeps me from harm./When the thunder roars, I feel safe in his arms." Illustrations are cheerful and childlike, displaying simple scenes both inside the house and camping outdoors. Sharp-eyed readers will notice in the little girl's drawing on the wall that Daddy is likely a single parent. Toddlers will enjoy the rhythm of the text and will identify with a preschooler and parent cooking meals, reading books, and playing pretend. The narrative has intergenerational appeal, especially for Chinese-speaking families who can enjoy a shared reading experience.-Toby Rajput, National Louis University, Skokie, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Children and their dad do many things together--cook, camp, play make-believe--and he consistently proves himself to be a great guy. This bilingual picture book is perhaps useful for beginning Chinese readers, but the English-to-Chinese translations are imperfect and sometimes drastically different; the rhyming text uninspired; and the illustrations, with their strangely shaped figures, border on jarring. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
