You Made Me a Dad

Xiao aptly captures the transformation wrought by fatherhood in this lighthearted picture book exploration. Building from “You made me...,” each spread fills in the blank with a different attribute, while artwork offers a frequently humorous or ironic twist. “You made me brave,” for example, attends an image of the father figure covering their own eyes while a baby receives a shot. Conveying “productive,” a baby lays atop Dad, who says, “Let’s do nothing together!” Crisply minimalist b&w cartoons pick up the sunshine hue of facing text pages to color the baby’s onesie. Closing scenes affectionately underscore the connection forged between Dad and baby with speech bubble text summarizing a life-changing relationship for the parent: “I am your best friend forever, OK?” Character skin tones reflect the white of the page. Ages 2–4. (May)