Daddy Long Legs

April 17, 2017
When a man’s “old green car” (it looks to be a Citroën 2CV) starts to putter out, he reassures his son, Matthew, that he will still pick him up from kindergarten, one way or another. “If the car doesn’t start,” the lanky father offers, “then I will come and fetch you in the neighbor’s big red tractor.” And if that doesn’t work, he can always catch a ride on a teddy bear or a dragon. Brun-Cosme (With Dad, It’s Like That) warmly conveys the father’s devotion through the increasingly outlandish theoretical scenarios, which Guillerey (Worms) captures with style and verve in her charmingly retro images. Ages 2–5.

April 1, 2017
In a tale reminiscent of the song "Hush Little Baby," a father reassures his kindergartener about how he will get back to him if the old green car finally gives up the ghost.If the car won't start, he'll ride the neighbor's tractor. But Matthew is too full of "what if"s to accept any answer his father gives. "And if the big red tractor is busy on the farm?" Then dad will be carried to Matthew by Martin, Matthew's teddy bear. If Martin won't wake up, the dad will recruit all the birds in the trees to carry him to his son at school. This give-and-take continues through ever more fanciful ideas until dad simply says he will use his legs (exaggeratedly elongated in the illustrations) to fetch Matthew from school. Guillerey's flat, retro-styled illustrations are full of bold colors and stylized shapes. But some are head-scratchers: on the page when the text tells of dad putting a rabbit under each foot to hop him to school, the picture shows him popping out of a hole, the rabbits already beside it. (Perhaps a literal depiction of the dad standing atop each bunny was a nonstarter?) All of the humans are paper-white with pink cheeks; the father is blond, and the boy has brown hair.For flights of fancy, stick with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street . (Picture book. 2-5)

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April 1, 2017
PreS-K-It's time for Matthew to go to kindergarten, but the old green car has trouble starting. Finally, it gets going, and Matthew and his dad zip down the road to school, but in parting, Matthew asks, -What if, this afternoon, the old green car doesn't start?- Daddy lays out alternative plans. He'll arrive on the neighbor's red tractor, on the back of Matthew's large teddy bear, or via a big green dragon, among other preposterous possibilities. At last he concedes that if all else fails, he will run as fast as his two long legs will carry him to be at Matthew's side in the afternoon. In this imaginative story, a dad calms his son's fears with fanciful replies. The artwork is bright, with cute animals and typical countryside backgrounds. The cheerful, uncomplicated retro illustrations offer broad appeal. VERDICT A sweet French import about an imaginative dad cleverly pacifying his son's worries. A worthy addition for most libraries.-Gaye Hinchliff, King County Library System, WA

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