Daddy, Daddy, Be There

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Boyd's image-laden narrative makes a passionate appeal to "Daddy" to "be there" to share the small and significant incidents in a child's life and-more incisively-to right the wrongs, some of which have been created by Daddy himself. The words of the book's title introduce-and end-just about every page of this belabored text, in which the narrator's entreaties range from hopeful ("Hug Mama and smile at her/ On Tuesdays and in the grocery store") to plaintive ("Daddy, Daddy,/ Be there,/ Not only on weekends or across telephone lines,/ Not only during commercials or between innings") to almost pathetic begging ("I saw you push Mama/ And take another drink/ And turn the television up,/ Then leave, slam the door shut./ I feel the holler, the push, the door slammed./ Please stop. Stop, please. Please. Stop./ Make home safe"). Though cloying, Boyd's poetic plea strikes deep notes that will ring true for many children and parents, and may be useful as a starting point for needed dialogue. Featuring kids and adults of various ethnicities, Cooper's (Be Good to Eddie Lee) intentionally hazy, brown-toned illustrations reinforce the text's unfettered emotional content. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Children's Literature - Judy Silverman

In Daddy, Daddy, Be There, Candy Dawson Boyd has written some lovely, rhythmic page-long prose-poems. They talk of bad times and good, of bad behavior and good, on the part of both children and their fathers. The book amounts to a set of instructions to fathers. Floyd Cooper has illustrated each page with loving care. They show children of every race and age, with their fathers. The importance of fathers to their children's well being can't be over-emphasized, and here is a lovely way to get fathers and children to read together and talk about what they've read.

Children's Literature - Susie Wilde

In Daddy, Daddy, Be There, Candy Dawson Boyd has written some lovely, rhythmic page-long prose-poems. They talk of bad times and good, of bad behavior and good, on the part of both children and their fathers. The book amounts to a set of instructions to fathers. Floyd Cooper has illustrated each page with loving care. They show children of every race and age, with their fathers. The importance of fathers to their children's well being can't be over-emphasized, and here is a lovely way to get fathers and children to read together and talk about what they've read.

School Library Journal

Gr 3 Up-Lyrical prose pleads, in the voices of children, for fathers to show up for the little and big events in their lives, to share stories, to be constant and loving, to hold the family together in tough times, and to see life through their eyes. The youngsters' concerns age as the pages turn-the first narrator is beginning school; the last is a parent himself. Cooper's textured pastel illustrations capture mixtures of many races, reflecting the universal needs of children to know and be loved by their fathers. His use of variously tinted brown tones give the closeup faces the look of old photographs. The text crackles with contemporary concerns: a plea for children raised by private schools and day-care centers to have feelings acknowledged; a cry to despondent and jobless fathers to keep struggling; and a reminder that even young people with green hair and pierced noses need love and guidance. The book is most likely to move older students and adults to discuss the important roles that fathers play in children's lives. Put it in the parenting section or in the hands of family-life educators to read with their classes. This compelling treatment of an emotional topic will no doubt elicit strong emotions in discussion or writing with upper-elementary age students, as well.-Susan Hepler, Alexandria City Public Schools, VA