My Dad is the Best Playground by L. Navarro-Powell

  Navarro-Powell, Luciana.  My Dad is the Best Playground. Mississauga: Random House of Canada Limited, 2011. Print. Originially from Brazil, Luciana Navarro Powell moved to the U.S. in 2002. Navarro-Powell has worked as a professional illustrator for approximately 14 years. Her current media of choice is the digital brush, which she used to illustrate My Dad is the Best Playground. My Dad is the Best Playground is a board book that is delightful and easy to read to toddlers. From the moment Dad arrives home, the story describes all of the ways in which he can be used like a playground and how the children in the story interact with their father, from climbing on him to being twirled about by him.  Each of the actions cleverly relates to actions that the children would also be able to do at a real playground.  The truly wonderful part of the story is the illustrations.  For pictures that are simple, they convey so much motion and interaction.  The colour palette used is pleasing to the eye. The true test of any book is the reaction of the target audience.  The toddlers daycare class to whom I read the story could easily identify the boy and girl and other household items in the pictures. They also thought it was funny to see the children interact with their father in different ways.  This was a lovely story to read to toddlers and illustrated the positive interactions Dads have with their children. Recommended: 3 out of 4 Reviewer: Virginia PowVirginia is the Maps Librarian for the William Wonders Map Library and a Public Services Librarian for the Cameron Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta. In her free time she enjoys hiking, camping, running, cross country skiing or anything in the outdoors with her favorite partners in crime; daughter, husband and very large mutt.