The Best Father of All Book

Father relates some of the many things different fathers do for their children, chirping encouragement as they learn to fly, setting up croaking concerts to showcase their talents, and lets Sebastian guess just what animal father is being described. In the end, Sebastian, like children everywhere, decides his own loving father is the very best father of all!

Sheilah Egan - Children's Literature

Irrepressible Sebastian, the little turtle, asks his own father "What do fathers do?" In the series of guessing game questions that follows, father turtle reveals all sort of things loving fathers from the animal kingdom "do." Sebastian quickly guesses which father shows his children how to hop from stalk to stalk. "That's a father grasshopper!" "That must be a father bat," is his reply to the question about which father puts his children to sleep in the middle of the day. The softly-defined illustrations are simple but perfectly suited to the text and give visual reinforcement to Sebastian and his father's discussion on the merits of different things fathers share with their children. Human children will be quick to recognize the analogies to their own experiences: "my dad encourages me when I try things—like the father bird chirping when his babies try to fly," and all of the other situations so sweetly brought to light in this lovely lap-time read aloud. I think that teachers will find this a wonderful reading experience to share with a group, as well. The children will be eager to guess what kind of father will be next and to assign the characteristics described to the proper dear old dad before the picture is revealed. Love and guidance abound in this charming addition to literature about fathers and their offspring. 2002, North-South Books, Ages 2 to 5.