Today I'm Going Fishing with My Dad

Resentful ``fishing widows'' might be the best audience for this diatribe against Dad's self-centered fishing expeditions. In neutral tones a boy begins describing the preparations he and his father make for a fishing trip. Only midway do the boy's true feelings emerge: ``I hate going fishing with my dad.'' He hates the heat, bad lunches, wriggly worms, lack of bathrooms, his dad's insistence on being quiet, etc. To redeem this wretched experience, the book ends, ``But I love spending time with my dad, and my dad likes to go fishing, so . . . today I'm going fishing with my dad.'' Either the reader is left unconvinced that the hero could so loathe an activity most children love or, if convinced, is left to share the hero's misery. Though interesting for their minimalism, Demarest's ( My Little Red Car ) impressionistic watercolors add little joie-de-vivre to this dour book. Ages 5-8. (Aug.)