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Summary
Summary
This follow-up to the best-selling Mama, Do You Love Me? (over one million copies sold in 15 languages!) captures the universal love between a father and child. Set in Africa and featuring the Maasai culture, the beautiful watercolor illustrations, lyrical text, and enduring message are sure to make this another instant classic.
Author Notes
Barbara M. Joosse lives in a small stone house beside a wide creek in Wisconsin. She visited schools in Kenya and Uganda in 1997, and the Maasai and their tenderness toward their children planted a seed in her heart that grew into the idea for this book. This is her twenty-eighth book for children.
Barbara Lavallee's vibrant watercolor illustrations are known around the world, especially in Alaska where she lives. Ms. Lavallee has illustrated many books for children, including This Place is Wild: East Africa by Vicki Cobb. She has twice visited Afric
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-This title follows the format of Joosse's Mama, Do You Love Me? (Chronicle, 1991). In Papa, a Maasai father reassures his young son that his love is unconditional and endless. In answer to his son's questions, he explains that he will always protect the boy from the dangers of the Serengeti Plain and teaches him how to find water in their harsh environment. A glossary elaborates on the concepts introduced, such as the importance of cattle in Maasai life, medicinal uses of the Greenheart tree, and the role of the herd boy. The bright, stylized watercolors reflect the warm hues of the Serengeti. Details are clearly rendered, allowing children to visualize life in a culture different from their own. The father's red robe sweeps across much of the book, wrapping his small son in its protective embrace. Parents will snatch up this tender, reassuring book for bedtime read-alouds. Teachers of early elementary students may wish to use it as an introduction to the life of the Maasai.-Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Featuring a dramatically different setting from the collaborators' Mama, Do You Love Me?, which centers on an Alaskan Inuit mother and daughter, this warmhearted companion introduces a Maasai boy and his father on the Serengeti. Like the young protagonist of the earlier book, this curious child verbally tests the limits of his parent's love, which is-words and art convincingly reinforce-boundless. Addressing his child as Tender Heart, the father incorporates references to Maasai culture as he answers his son: "I love you more than the warrior loves to leap, more than the bush baby loves the moon, more than the elder loves his stories." Local terms (explained in a glossary) come into play as the lad's questions become more specific. What if, as herd boy, one night he overate and fell asleep and hyenas crept in and stole his birthright cow? The father's articulate responses reassure the child that he will always be there to help his son-and to teach him. Echoing the soothing rhythm of the poetic narrative, Lavallee's graceful watercolors feature a harmoniously balanced palette, setting the bold hues and patterns of traditional Maasai clothing against the variegated blues of the sky, the pale tones of the plain and the natural markings of African animals. This vividly depicted setting underscores the universality of the book's message. Ages 4-8. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A Maasai father answers his son's persistent questions about the depth of the father's love for his son. The companion to Mama, Do You Love Me? is as sweet and reassuring as the earlier book. Joosse weaves information about Maasai culture throughout and Lavallee's handsome illustrations in rich reds, browns, and golds match the warmth of the text. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A pendant and companion to this duo's beloved Mama, Do You Love Me? (1991). While the gorgeous and glowing colors of the Maasai in Africa are very different from the Alaskan setting of the first book, the universality and beautiful emotional rhythms of the story remain the same. A boy asks his father the question of the title, and his father replies, "You came from your mama, whom I love, your grandpapas and grandmamas, whom I honor . . . You are my Tender Heart, and I love you." The boy asks, how long, and what would you do if it were hot, and what if I was afraid, and the father responds each time in deep rumbling tenderness: He will love his boy as long as "the Serengeti rolls to the sky," he would stretch out his blanket for shade, he would hold his son. The pictures are rich in tone and hue, expressive line and expansive gesture: Repeated motifs of textile and bead patterns, wild animal groups and a splendid curvilinear tree echo and support the text. Sure to be another bestseller. (glossary) (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. The creators of the wildly popular Mama, Do You Love Me 1991), featuring an Inuit mother and daughter, focus on another indigenous culture to tell a simple tale of parental love. This time, the characters are a Masai father and son. While herding cattle, a boy tests his father's affection with a question game that fans of Mama will recognize: Papa, do you love me? . . . How much? . . . How long? Each time, Papa answers with reassuring words that reference Masai life: I love you more than the warrior loves to leap. Lavallee's delicately shaded watercolors in brilliant reds and sunlit golds extend the story' warm sentiments, and children will enjoy spotting the many animals in the pictures. An annotated glossary offers more information about the Masai's traditional culture. Few picture books star African fathers and sons, and this one, like Mama, will probably draw a large, devoted following for its strong message of unconditional love. For more books about fathers and sons, see the Read-alikes, A Day with Dad, in the June 2005 issue. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2005 Booklist
