My Dad

With well-measured doses of hyperbole, sentiment and humor, Browne (Voices in the Park) delivers an endearing paean to patriarchs. ""He's all right, my dad,"" begins the young narrator, pictured only in the final painting, receiving a giant hug from the object of his affection. Each page celebrates a specific quality or accomplishment of Dad, illustrated with characteristically witty panache. Accompanying the proclamation that ""My dad isn't afraid of ANYTHING, even the Big Bad Wolf,"" is a picture of the fellow showing an overall-clad wolf the door, as Red Riding Hood and three pigs peer out from behind a tree in the background; in another, the boy thinks his dad ranks as one of the three tenors (""a brilliant singer,"" Dad is flanked by Pavarotti and Domingo). Some of Browne's playful imagery is obvious: the plaid pattern of Dad's bathrobe appears on a piece of toast popping out of the toaster, and he assumes the likeness of a variety of animals as the child announces that ""My dad can eat like a horse,"" ""swim like a fish,"" etc. Yet sometimes the artist creates some slyer graphic pranks. A childlike drawing of a sun that hangs on the wall on the opening page, for example, later appears in a smaller dimension as a button on Dad's pajamas. And as the father bounces a soccer ball on his knee, trees in the distance are shaped like balls used in various sports. All ages. (Apr.)