Cave Dada

January 13, 2020
It may be the Stone Age, but it’s the same old story: at bedtime, Baba is stalling by insisting their father read a book. “Dada tired. Hunt gather all day,” says the weary parent. “Ug. Baba feel cry,” says the savvy kid, who has three strands of hair and wears a fur diaper. Of course, Baba doesn’t want any book but the biggest, and in this era, that means it’s carved on huge stone tablets. Dad seems to know that nothing he does to postpone the inevitable meltdown—including inadvertently inventing fire—will relieve him of his duty, though “Dada feel cry, too.” Working in earth-toned, digitized pencil and gouache, Reese (Oothar the Blue) mixes comics-style framing with generously scaled spreads (the baby’s angry red face is particularly attention getting) to take parent and child from standoff to sweet, slumbery reconciliation. The story’s elements don’t add up to any big surprise (Baba is of course adorably asleep when Dada finally arrives with the book), but the prehistoric trappings add newfangled comic sheen, and the cave-speak dialogue (rendered in angular chiseled type) should make for a giggly readaloud. Ages 3–5. Agent: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary.

February 1, 2020

PreS-Gr 1-Using "cave speak," Reese revisits the familiar tale of a baby who requires a particular item before going to sleep. Cave child Baba refuses a rattle(snake) and a fur blanket-anything but a big book at bedtime. After offering a variety of stone tablets, Dada gets gently frustrated, even accidentally inventing fire. A woolly mammoth assists in bringing the requested tome and, of course, the baby is asleep upon its arrival. Reese's (Oothar the Blue) double-page spreads, created in Photoshop along with colored pencil and gouache, pair with speech bubbles containing phrases like "Now Dada real cry." VERDICT This simple yarn will amuse, and gives ample opportunity for conversation between reader and listener.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2020
"Baba want book": A tot's demand for a book before bed will strike chords of recognition in many a household. After a busy day ("Dada tired. Hunt gather all day. Dada no read book"), Cave Dada just wants Baba to sleep. But his fur diaper-clad tot isn't having it: "Ug. Baba feel cry." And when Dada attempts to distract his tot in other ways, that's just what Baba does, in an up-close, full-bleed page of the child's blotchy face, screwed-shut eyes, and uvula visible at the back of the wide-open, wailing mouth. Off Dada goes to get the book: a stone tablet carved with symbols. But it's not the right one. "Dada feel cry, too." And when he returns with a book taller and wider than he is, he does cry--it's not the one Baba wants either. Even the discovery of fire (from the friction of moving the book) doesn't distract for long--it's off to get the big book with the necessary help of a mammoth. Adult readers will guess what Dada finds upon his return, but the ending spread is still sweetly satisfying, even though it ultimately fails to promote bonding through books. Reese's soft-edged cartoons are masterful, the backgrounds simple so as to keep the focus on the dilemma (and humor) at hand. Both Baba and Dada have light skin. This is the Neolithic equivalent of "one more book," "I need a drink," "gotta go potty," and it's uproarious. (Picture book. 4-8)

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March 1, 2020
Grades K-2 It takes a lot of (literal) heavy lifting to find an acceptable bedtime story in this Stone Age?yet universal?father-child exchange. After a long day of hunting and gathering, weary Dada wants Baba to quietly go nite nite. No, first Dada must read book, and not just any book: Baba want BIG book! Unfortunately, Dada's first two offerings, both massive stone tablets, aren't what Baba has in mind, nor does Dada's hopeful attempt to fob off a burning stick as a distraction derail Baba's increasingly loud demands. Reese outfits his chunky figures in Flintstones-style garb and captures their back-and-forth in a mix of full-page and double-page-spread scenes, some wordless, with smaller ones in sequential panels. Ultimately, with a mastodon's help, Dada drags in a really big book . . . only to find Baba snoozing peacefully (or, at least, pretending to). Ahh, Dada can at last snuggle down alongside. There's no sign of a mama, and Baba's gender is left unspecified in this comical round of prehistoric parenting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)