From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2—A bedtime conversation turns into a tall tale as a boy tests his father's devotion with a series of death-defying imaginary deeds. It all begins when he asks, "Daddy, if I got taken by pirates, would you save me?" His father would, of course. He would also swim through shark-infested waters, brave a jungle full of tigers, and even save his son from the robot gorilla Martian pirates that the original pirates later become. In the end, the boy gives his tired and bedraggled dad a drink of juice and patches up his imaginary battle wounds, adding a touching new dimension to an old formula. Like a macho version of Margaret Wise Brown's The Runaway Bunny (HarperCollins, 1942), this book employs exaggeration and humor to explore the perennial picture-book theme of parental love. It breaks new ground, however, by depicting both sides of the parent-child relationship. The irresistible cartoon illustrations are full of sly details, like the two eye patches on the three-eyed robot gorilla Martian pirate. Rex has created a surefire bedtime hit for children (and parents) of either gender.—Rachael Vilmar, Atlanta Fulton Public Library, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
At bedtime a little boy asks, "Daddy, if I got taken by pirates would you save me?" This sets off a series of different scenarios, as the pirates morph into gorillas, robots, and robotlike creatures from Mars. As the father gives chase, the obstacles he encounters include jungles, cliffs, tigers, snakes, and vultures. Once the son is rescued, another round of questions describes the medical procedures and equipment (bandages and apple juice, primarily) that would heal the father after his adventures. Kids will enjoy the various changes, which lead from the pirates to the comical interplanetary monsters. The father, depicted in Rex's full-page, comics-style drawings as bald, middle-aged, and clad in a white shirt and tie, overcomes the monsters in an appropriately professional, middle-class way by mesmerizing them with his gold watch. This may have more appeal to would-be heroic dads than their kids, but it should still make for some bedtime story bonding. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
Michael Rex lives in the Bronx, New York.
