If I Were Your Father [Hardcover]

Margaret Park Bridges (Author), Kady Macdonald Denton (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

Imagine if children were in charge for a day. This is a book that invites the very young to share their own dreams and wishes with parents. Illustrations and dialogue capture the spirit of friendship and affection beteen parent and child.'

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Kids always have lots of ideas about what makes a good parent, and the little boy in If I Were Your Father is no exception. One day, he fantasizes about what he would do if he was the dad.

If I were your father, I'd take you fishing on a school day.
Could we keep the fish in our little swimming pool?
No. We'd throw them back so their families wouldn't worry.

Margaret Park Bridges and Canadian illustrator Kady MacDonald Denton, the talented team behind If I Were Your Mother, create a whimsical, affectionate dialogue between a father and his son. If the boy were the dad, he would let his son brush his teeth with cake frosting, push all the buttons in the office elevator, and hunt for buried treasure! And the best part is that the dad never once says, "Sure you would!" Denton's Maurice Sendak-style illustrations are as winning as ever, and this sweet picture book, with its father-son flights of fancy, is tangibly tender. (Ages 3 and older)

From Publishers Weekly

In these affectionate companion books, a girl imagines switching places with her mother, and a boy with his father. The children describe whimsical activities like building a tree house with an elevator and hiding so much buried treasure in their pockets that their pants fall down. But most of the children's ideas hint slyly at what their parents don't let them do: "If I were your mother, I'd let you jump from the sofa to the armchair"; "If I were your father, I wouldn't yell if you stood in front of the TV while I was watching a game." The parent and child banter playfully, building on the scenarios in alternating red and blue text to indicate which line of dialogue belongs to which speaker. Bridges reuses the parent-child call-and-response format of her Will You Take Care of Me?, but with greater originality and range. The lightness and warmth of Denton's (A Child's Treasure of Nursery Rhymes) watercolors complement the softness of the text. Her impish, wide-faced characters may remind readers of more staid versions of Maurice Sendak's (a few of the girl's poses and costumes look borrowed). While the mother and daughter are snugglier than their male counterparts (Dad refers to his boy as "buddy" throughout), the girl is the livelier of the two kids; her dancing, swinging and jumping convey terrific energy. Both books revel in the coziness of a loving relationship. Ages 3-up. (May)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688151922
• ISBN-13: 978-0688151928
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,097,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret Park Bridges was born in New York City and raised in Portland, Oregon. She started writing poetry and won the Academy of American Poets Prize while attending Bowdoin College. She wrote a one-act comedy called "Looking Out," which was made into a short films by a film studen at NYU and also performed at the Quaigh Theater in New York City and in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she was married. After moving to Massachusetts, she won the Special Award for Excellence in Japan's Suntory Mystery Fiction Competition for "My Dear Watson." Later, when her daughters were young, she wrote several children's picture books. She is pleased to see "My Dear Watson" in print again--this time finally in English! She works for an educational publisher in Boston and lives with her haiku poet husband in Littleton, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Marya's review of, "If I were your Mother", December 22, 1999

By 

Marya S (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If I Were Your Father (Library Binding)

"If I were your Mother" is a great book for mothers to share with their daughters. In the story, a little girl explains how she'd treat her mother if her mom were her daughter. The daughter realizes that the thing that matters the most to her is the love that her mother gives to her daughter. The illustrations are in fun colors and convey the soft, loving message of the book. I really like the book!