Gator Dad is a delightful picture book about an involved father who happens to be an alligator.
Written and illustrated by best-selling author Brian Lies, the book tells a day in the life of our hero, the Gator Dad. He starts in the morning asking his young gators to wake up and squeeze the day. And they squeeze quite a lot into the day including breakfast, playground, adventures in a park, some old fashioned romping around at home, quiet reading time, some cuddling time, and finally bedtime (with one last squeeze for good luck!)
This is a picture book, so it is short and an easy read, but it’s no less meaningful. According to the book jacket, the book comes from the author’s experiences as a stay-at-home dad, including comments from random strangers that he was just babysitting his kids. Does this sound familiar anyone? I bet it does.
The illustrations/paintings are wonderful and full of whimsical and anthropomorphic details. For example, the book’s title page shows Gator Dad drinking a cup of coffee with a frog leg in it. The copyright page shows a kid’s picture of his family featuring his gator dad and siblings.
There are also some homage/references to other children’s books, including Put Me In The Zoo, Knuffle Bunny, and the author’s own Bat series, which has been translated into eight languages and read aloud on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday by Scott Simon and Daniel Pinkwater.
To find out more about his work, visit his website: http://brian-lies.squarespace.com/
Leave a Reply