At Daddy's on Saturdays

September 30, 1987
Katie's parents divorce, and jointly decide that she should live with her mother, because her father travels so much. The narration concerns the adjustment of each member of the family to the father's living elsewhere. The author explores many truths: that the divorce seems "like somebody was throwing someone else away,'' that being with her father on Saturdays is sometimes even boring, just like the old days, and that even after adjustment Katie still feels hurt ``and probably always will.'' The parents act as a team, telling their child that, no matter what happens in other families, this Daddy will always show up when he says he will. Sensitive watercolors enhance the various moods of the book, which isif not originalreassuring. Ages 5-8.

December 1, 1987
Gr 1-3 -Young children will find reassurance in this realistic but warm story of a divorce told from a young girl's point of view. The story begins on the day that Katie's father moves out and ends months later, after Katie, her mother, and father all have had a chance to adjust to the change in their lives. The sadness, guilt, and confusion typically felt by a child of divorce is honestly portrayed, but so is the unconditional love that both parents continue to feel for Katie. The soft, warm style of Friedman's realistic watercolors in muted colors supports the tone of the story. The best of the many other books on this topic are Caines' Daddy (Harper, 1977), Dragonwagon's Always (Macmillan, 1984), Lexau's Emily and the Klunky Baby and the Next-Door Dog (Dial, 1972), Helmering's I Have Two Families (Abingdon, 1981), and Schuchman's Two Places to Sleep (Carolrhoda, 1979). Girard's book will make an additional choice for children coping with their parents' divorce. Barbara S. McGinn, Oak Hill Elementary School, Severna Park, Md.