Applesauce

PreS-K–Sometimes Johnny’s father has smooth cheeks, warm hands, strong muscles, and a soft belly for sleeping on. He makes applesauce and lets his son lick it off his fingers. Those are Johnny’s favorite moments. Other times the man’s hands are cold and he’s a “thunder daddy” who yells at Johnny to pick up his shoes, do his homework, and turn down the TV. Then Johnny wishes he could go to “the forest of Other-and-Better” to find a new daddy who never gets mad. The thundering times come to an end eventually, and soon Daddy is making applesauce again. A parent’s unpredictable moods can be frightening to a small child, and this book attempts to address that fear. However, it’s unclear whether these are the normal emotional fluctuations of a healthy parent, or whether the father is grappling with more serious issues. Unfortunately, no comfort or explanation is offered to Johnny: he just has to wait it out. The bold, colored pencil and acrylic illustrations are well executed but disconcerting, rendering the father genuinely frightening in some spreads, and merely unappealing in others (as when his “hair is a bush...and his breath smells like cauliflower”). The poetic language effectively captures a sensitive child’s ambivalence and fears, though, so this picture book might find a home in larger collections.–Rachael Vilmar, Eastern Shore Regional Library, Salisbury, MD