Razzamadaddy

Title: Razzamadaddy
Author: Linda Walvoord
Illustrated: Sachiko Yoshikawa
Published: Marshall Cavendish New York, London, and Singapore
Date:2004
Summary: A father and son spend a wonderful day together at the beach.
Age Level:Primary (2-5)
Strengths: I love a book that has lots of colors, and this story certainly has plenty of it. I love how some of the pictures spread across two pages with beautiful colors. This story is rendered in acrylic and pastel on watercolor paper. It tells a fun story of a son and father spending a day at the beach. I like how the author uses rhyming text throughout the story. You can actually feel the rhythm of the text and it's makes it more fun to sing it. I also like how the author created new words in the story such as "shimmery", "glimmery", and of course "razzamadaddy".The text goes perfectly with each pictures presented. The beach and water scenes are practially my favorite pictures. The ending is very cute when the father is dancing with the son on the beach (a father, son moment), and then they ride home up through the hills on a beautiful blue starry night. On that page, it shows three hills, one is a tan hill (representing the father and son coming from the beach), a light green hill, and a dark dreen hill. I like how the illustrator used those kind of colors (shading from tan to light green,to dark green).
Concerns: I wonder why the illustrator put some white spaces in some of the pictures, because I think the story would have worked well with all colorful pictures. However, it doesn't affect the picture. I was just curious because there are some white spaces, such as the last page where the picture is in the shape of a circle. There is also one unanswered question. In the synopsis (at the beginning of the book), it says that the father is picking up the son to go to the beach. You don't know where the father will pick up at the son, but it shows the father picking up in the son's room. The last page shows the father and son hugging, while the mother is watching. From the postition of the father, it looks like he's ready to go, for the car is also in the picture. It makes me wonder if the parents are separated or not, and if the father can only see his son a few times. Maybe that is why they both had a very good time (Just noting the observation).
Comments: This is a very heart-warming book about father and son spending some quality time together. It is also very cute and I think parents (especially fathers) should read this to their children, but you can also share it in the classroom as well.