With Dad
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected May 7, 2024
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- $19.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A boy with a father in the military reflects on cherished memories of a camping trip with Dad in this warm, reassuring picture book.
Written by acclaimed author Richard Jackson and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Brian Floca, this timeless story is a perfect Father’s Day tribute.
A red Jeep on a dirt road, two sets of hands on the wheel; fresh-caught trout grilling over a fire; a night in a sleeping bag, the moon glowing outside the tent. Camping with his dad near Michigan’s Au Sable river, a young boy collects these indelible memories, and more.
Now war has called his father away, to drive a different kind of Jeep, and the memories are even more precious. One day soon, he hopes, Dad will come home, and they’ll be headed back into the woods, off to make more.
Acclaimed editor and author Richard Jackson drew from his own experience for this tender story about the lasting impact of quality time with a parent, especially poignant for military families. Caldecott Medalist and Sibert Honoree Brian Floca’s warm, lively illustrations pair perfectly with Jackson’s timeless words.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This story from the late Jackson (I See You See) begins as a red Jeep carrying two pale-skinned figures trundles over "a two-rut road along a stream called the upper South Branch of the Au Sable River." In gently tinted pen and ink, watercolor, and gouache spreads, Caldecott Medalist Floca follows a son who sits on his father's lap to steer the vehicle, then the two as they put up an olive-drab tent at a campsite, then go fishing. "An owl might come for those tonight," says the father as he pitches trout innards into the scrub. Later, sleeping in the tent, the father wakes the son: "Listen, Tim. Was that our owl?" A full moon illuminates the campsite; there's no owl, but the feeling of magic lingers. Closely observed writing brings sensations to life: "It was so amazing to see a wriggler wriggling on my own line and to hear Dad whooping with happiness." In a coda, the boy is shown looking wistfully into the distance after reading an airmail letter from his father, now stationed overseas: "I want Dad home safe and soon and warm." The child's longing testifies to the wonder of his parent's presence, which offers both excitement and security. Ages 4–8.
