A Father’s Love

Holt writes in singsong verse about the ways different animal fathers show love for their babies. Animal pairs appear in a range of habitats: “A father toad dives quick, unseen/ beneath a creekside evergreen./ While he glides,/ his babies gleam./ This father’s love/ flows like a stream.” In digitally colored art that skews flat on the page, flecks, speckles, and dashed lines texturize the animals’ fur, skin, and feathers. Back matter identifies the featured animals in more detail, describing how the fathers care for their young: “Emu fathers build the nest, keep eggs warm, and raise chicks all by themselves.” Two human fathers are also included, holding their sleeping infants: “A father’s love could hold the world.” A sweet-natured, if slight, look at the father-child bond. Ages 3–7. [em](Apr.) [/em]