5/5

Independent Reading Level: k-3
Awards: New York Times 2021 Best Children's Book ( )

A book highlighting a single dad is a rarity. A family that struggles for so many reasons (temper tantrums, missing a seemingly deceased mother, a parent who remembers his children as babies) these are complex issues within this book. For that reason, I do not see children loving it. It is a book that requires explanation to the audience.

But once again, the illustrations are the impactful medium. Making it, in my opinion, another book that I could see on Caldecott shortlists. ( )

A storm arrives, and a family is trapped inside. "There was nothing to do, and too much time to do it....Being home like that, all the time, felt strange. But soon it went from strange to bad to worse." The family - a single dad, three kids, and a dog - fights, and retreat to their own areas to be alone, until an especially big stormburst, followed by a power outage, brings them together again. Eventually, the sky clears, and "We go outside. There was so much to do." The final sentence is on a page spread showing blue sky over a yard strewn with downed branches and fallen leaves.

While the book doesn't specifically mention the pandemic, the storm seems like an obvious analogy. See also: Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham ( )