One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads - Softcover

Johnny Valentine is also the author of The Day they Put a Tax on Rainbows. He lives in Boston. Melody Sarecky has created children's illustrations for over 20 years for, among others National Geographic, Radio City Music Hall, The Humane Society of the US

PreSchool-Grade 2-The message that all people are basically the same whatever their skin color or sexual orientation is a worthy one, but this book, despite its cheerful pictures, is too didactic to have much appeal. In rhyming text, two children discuss a boy's two blue dads. He points out that, aside from their color, they are the same as other fathers-they work, play, and laugh. His friend wonders how they got that way and offers numerous explanations, but he tells her that they are blue simply because they are. The only trouble with the situation is that they are hard to see against the sky. "But except for that problem,/our life is routine,/and they're just like all other dads-/black, white, or green." And when the girl declares that she has never seen a green dad, a new child appears, stating that her two fathers are both green. Children young enough to take the tale at face value will probably think it is silly (since people are neither blue nor green), while older readers would be better served by a straightforward presentation of the subject matter.
Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.