My Father Is Taller than a Tree

April 19, 2010
This friendly poem celebrates the role fathers play in their sons' lives and the many kinds of families who live in the U.S. Working in crayon, Halperin draws father-son pairs around the country: an Asian father and son in San Francisco, a blind father with his son at a farmer's market, an African-American duo playing hide-and-seek. Smaller panels reveal more details about their lives, while Bruchac's verse runs along the bottom: “He pats my back when I feel sad./ He understands 'cause he's my dad.” The softly shaded drawings suggest similarly quiet emotions, and small sons will find comfort on every page. Ages 3–5.

March 1, 2010
PreS-Gr 1-Short, simple rhymes are highlighted by Halperin's wonderfully expressive, soft yet colorful crayon and pencil drawings. Each of the 13 diverse father/son duos is pictured on a spread in a large illustration accompanied by four small ones, showing the two sharing an activity, such as raking leaves, biking, or spending a day in the park. The pictures could stand alone with their gentle, loving depictions, and they are the focal point of this book. The uneven, singsong sentences are simple enough for early readers: "Dad knows the times I like to hide/and when to call me back inside./Pop doesn't need to buy me stuff./Just being with him is enough." Though the rhymes are unexceptional, the illustrations make this book a charming celebration of fathers, dads, pops, papas, and pas."Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2010
Preschool-G A rhyming text describes the commonplace things a boy can do with his father: Pop shows me how to ride a bike. / Im too grown-up now for a trike. (Librarians will especially like the last one: Papa reads to me every night / until he says thats all, sleep tight.) Although a first-person voice is used throughout, each spread depicts a different boy and dad, including a blind man and diverse ethnic groups. The bottom third of each double-page spread is a four-panel strip detailing the described activity; for example, the strip for Pa waits for me when I go slow / because the streets are deep with snow has the dad pulling the boy on a sled, the boy making snow angels and then tasting the snow, and the two of them sharing hot cocoa. Halperins soft palette reinforces the caring feeling between the 13 father-son pairs. The final spread is a montage of all the things the boys will do with their own children one day.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)