Daddy Sat on a Duck

Although she never actually sees any “wild beasts” in her kitchen, garage, or basement, Cohn’s young narrator is certain that she’s sharing her house with an entire menagerie of them. After all, what else could make such loud, odd noises or leave the bathroom so smelly? Readers, however, will quickly grasp that all those things can be traced to one creature: the girl’s hipster daddy (the title refers to a paternal act of flatulence at the dinner table). Cohn, an ad exec making his debut, has put together a book of workmanlike digital illustrations that resemble cut-paper collages and weak rhymes (“I was finally fed up. ‘I will find them today!/ These creatures are no longer welcome to stay!’ ”). But aesthetics are almost beside the point: first in a planned series, the book will undoubtedly find both fans, who will be charmed by its frankness, and detractors, who will find Daddy’s bro-ness less charming and wonder whether the “Hoo Hoo Squeak Squeak Ba-Roo” the girl hears at night is the sound of her parents having sex. Ages 3–6. (May)