cover image Our Favorite Day

Our Favorite Day

Joowon Oh. Candlewick, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-5362-0357-8

Elderly Papa lives by himself, and he likes to do things the same way each day: “Every morning, Papa wakes up and drinks some tea.” Newcomer Oh illustrates with crisply cut and painted paper in delicate tones, showing Papa’s home and effects. She shows him spritzing his plants, washing his dishes, and slipping his overcoat from a hanger. Then he takes the bus into town, where enjoys his favorite lunch: dumplings (“The usual?” a waitperson asks him). The next day, in a sequence that creates genuine suspense, subtle variations signal that something different is happening. Papa stops at the craft store to buy materials (“Ah, must be Thursday!” the merchant says), gets two orders of dumplings to go, and “then he waits.” Only when all the preparations are in place does the reason for change—his visiting granddaughter—appear. Their feelings for each other are clear as Oh shows her running into Papa’s outstretched arms. In this subtle, emotionally gratifying debut, Papa emerges as a distinctive personality whose preparations make it clear that his granddaughter’s happiness is just as important as his own. Ages 3–7. [em](Aug.) [/em]