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PICTURE BOOKS
Hrab, Naseem

Weekend Dad

40 pp. | Groundwood | May, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-77306-108-5 $18.95 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-77306-109-2
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Frank Viva. The young boy narrator describes his first two weekends visiting his dad in Dad's new apartment. In spare, specific language, he tells of packing his bag; riding on the bus, where he tells Dad all about his week; and the scary feeling of sleeping in a strange new room. It's both home and not home: "This home is home because my dad is here. And it's nothing like home because my mom isn't here." The love between the boy and his parents is palpable throughout, and strongly reinforced when the father gives the boy a letter, worried that during the week his son "might forget that you are always in my heart." The mundane details of playing their usual card games and eating the same things they always eat ground the book in ordinary life and make the situation something to which even children who don't live in two homes can relate. Viva's retro illustrations feature thin, shaky black-ink outlines that convey uncertainty, filled in digitally with colors that initially are muted but gradually become bolder, with a shade of orange-red matching the hair of both father and son. Truthful and touching, this picture book sends the reassuring message that children can be deeply loved even when parents separate.
Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

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