cover image Dad’s First Day

Dad’s First Day

Mike Wohnoutka. Bloomsbury, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-61963-473-2

In a story of emotional transference, a boy named Oliver is completely ready for school to begin but his kind, nebbishy father—with whom Oliver spent the summer playing, reading, and singing—grows nervous when the big day arrives. Wohnoutka’s gouache paintings poke gentle fun at Daddy, and they’ll elicit giggles as Oliver’s father hides from his son as they prepare to leave the house, drives “very slowly” to school, and throws a tantrum that requires the teacher to carry the man out of the building. It’s a straightforward and familiar story (with a reassuring conclusion), and it should leave new students with an extra jolt of confidence. Ages 4–8. (July)