Spy Dad

When we first see Dad in this comics-style Finnish import, he’s in full spy mode. Tied to a chair with a ticking bomb underneath it, he manages to cut the ropes with a Swiss Army knife and grab hold of the landing gear of a helicopter, before the entire building goes boom. But Dad is also a dad, and when his daughter, Olivia, demands more of his attention, he decides to chuck the espionage game for full-time parenting and takes Olivia on a road trip. Easier said than done: Dad is still being shadowed by some Men in Black types, someone blows up the family car, and Dad realizes he misses the excitement—and income—of the spy life. Mäntärri works in zippy, exclamatory graphics rendered in Marimekko-esque patterns and colors, and offers some irreverent domestic humor. The occasionally clunky text, an uncredited translation, could have used some streamlining, but given the plethora of books in which kids imagine themselves as ninjas and spies, readers of all ages may find it refreshing to see a parent with a secret life, too. Ages 3–8. (Apr.)