I Spy Dad by Janeen Brian

Ill. by Chantal Stewart. New frontier, 2009. ISBN 9781921042171.
(Age 3+) A little girl plays a game of I spy, looking for Dads and wondering where hers will be. She see a huge variety of fathers: a splashing dad, a crashing dad, a dashing dad, dads of all ages, sizes and backgrounds, doing all kinds of things that a dad might do. Where will hers be?
The internal rhymes in I spy Dad make it a perfect book to read aloud. The verse is black on a white background with only a few words per page so would be perfect for beginning readers to read along with and begin to recognise some words. The beautiful pictures painted in bright water colours by Chantal Stewart complement the text and would also help a beginning reader to guess what the dad is doing.
What I liked most about this book was the love portrayed in the pictures and the text. It is a celebration of the diversity of the ethnic origins and the wide range of activities that fathers and their children can do. This makes it a perfect book to talk about family love and the different ways that families operate. It would also be a good Father's Day gift, but best of all it is a book to look at and enjoy.
Pat Pledger