Daddy Loves His Little Girl

Well-matched verse and art fuse simplicity and fancy in this warm companion to Momma Loves Her Little Son. Addressing his daughter, the narrator expresses his expansive, unconditional love: “Daddy loves his little girl,/ with arms spread open wide./ He cherishes the love you give/ and holds it deep inside”). As Cash’s narrative takes off on an imaginative track, primitive, sunlit paintings transport father and child to “a far-off magic land” and to an exotic palace near Kathmandu, before an eagle delivers them home. The fantasy sequences are framed by handsome patterned borders, and effectively crackled backgrounds give both the real and imaginary settings a timeless quality. Ages 4–8. (May)