Gator Dad

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy Library, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 6, 2016

Review

Brian Lies deviates from bats to celebrate the challenges and joys of single/stay-at-home fatherhood. Lies's masterful acrylic paintings are the star in this homage to all that a dad is: protector, fort-maker, climbing "structure". The prose is not as winning as his bat books, but the love and engagement shine through the illustrations. Young readers will recognize many of the dad moves in this book, though the book feels a bit skewed toward the adult perspective and would be a lovely gift for any dad. Kids do love gators, and this would circulate based on that, but I can't see a child checking this out over and over. A non-essential purchase though nice to add if you have all of Lies's other books.

Overall Book Score: good