Cave Dada

by Brandon Reese

Overview

A hilarious book for new dads and their little loved ones to share and enjoy!

It's bedtime for Dada's little cave baby. But Baba wants a bedtime story, and not just from any book. Baba wants just the right book—and the right book means the biggest book! Poor Dada! The delaying tactics of his Stone Age darling may not speed up bedtime ... but they just might change the course of human history.

• Full of parenting moments that new or expecting dads will love
• Sweet, silly, and boldly illustrated—ideal read-aloud book to share with the family
• Perfect Father's Day gift

Fans of Your Baby's First Word Will Be Dada, Because I'm Your Dad, and Dad By My Side will love Cave Dada's positive, loving message.

• Books for new dads
• Books for kids ages 3–5
• New dads book, daddy book

Brandon Reese is the illustrator of numerous books for children. His own adventures in fatherhood provided ample inspiration for this book. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452179940
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	03/31/2020
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.87(h) x 0.36(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Brandon Reese is the illustrator of numerous books for children. His own adventures in fatherhood provided ample inspiration for this book. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

01/13/2020

It may be the Stone Age, but it’s the same old story: at bedtime, Baba is stalling by insisting their father read a book. “Dada tired. Hunt gather all day,” says the weary parent. “Ug. Baba feel cry,” says the savvy kid, who has three strands of hair and wears a fur diaper. Of course, Baba doesn’t want any book but the biggest, and in this era, that means it’s carved on huge stone tablets. Dad seems to know that nothing he does to postpone the inevitable meltdown—including inadvertently inventing fire—will relieve him of his duty, though “Dada feel cry, too.” Working in earth-toned, digitized pencil and gouache, Reese (Oothar the Blue) mixes comics-style framing with generously scaled spreads (the baby’s angry red face is particularly attention getting) to take parent and child from standoff to sweet, slumbery reconciliation. The story’s elements don’t add up to any big surprise (Baba is of course adorably asleep when Dada finally arrives with the book), but the prehistoric trappings add newfangled comic sheen, and the cave-speak dialogue (rendered in angular chiseled type) should make for a giggly readaloud. Ages 3–5. Agent: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"[Cave Dada] will amuse, and gives ample opportunity for conversation between reader and listener."-School Library Journal

"[Cave Dada is a] comical round of prehistoric parenting."-Booklist

"Reese (Oothar the Blue) take[s] parent and child from standoff to sweet, slumbery reconciliation. the prehistoric trappings add newfangled comic sheen, and the cave-speak dialogue (rendered in angular chiseled type) should make for a giggly readaloud."-Publishers Weekly

"[Cave Dada is] sweetly satisfying. . . Reese's soft-edged cartoons are masterful, the backgrounds simple so as to keep the focus on the dilemma (and humor) at hand. . . . This is the Neolithic equivalent of 'one more book,' 'I need a drink,' 'gotta go potty,' and it's uproarious."-Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

02/01/2020

PreS-Gr 1—Using "cave speak," Reese revisits the familiar tale of a baby who requires a particular item before going to sleep. Cave child Baba refuses a rattle(snake) and a fur blanket—anything but a big book at bedtime. After offering a variety of stone tablets, Dada gets gently frustrated, even accidentally inventing fire. A woolly mammoth assists in bringing the requested tome and, of course, the baby is asleep upon its arrival. Reese's (Oothar the Blue) double-page spreads, created in Photoshop along with colored pencil and gouache, pair with speech bubbles containing phrases like "Now Dada real cry." VERDICT This simple yarn will amuse, and gives ample opportunity for conversation between reader and listener.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

School Library Journal

2020-03-15
“Baba want book”: A tot’s demand for a book before bed will strike chords of recognition in many a household.

After a busy day (“Dada tired. Hunt gather all day. Dada no read book”), Cave Dada just wants Baba to sleep. But his fur diaper–clad tot isn’t having it: “Ug. Baba feel cry.” And when Dada attempts to distract his tot in other ways, that’s just what Baba does, in an up-close, full-bleed page of the child’s blotchy face, screwed-shut eyes, and uvula visible at the back of the wide-open, wailing mouth. Off Dada goes to get the book: a stone tablet carved with symbols. But it’s not the right one. “Dada feel cry, too.” And when he returns with a book taller and wider than he is, he does cry—it’s not the one Baba wants either. Even the discovery of fire (from the friction of moving the book) doesn’t distract for long—it’s off to get the big book with the necessary help of a mammoth. Adult readers will guess what Dada finds upon his return, but the ending spread is still sweetly satisfying, even though it ultimately fails to promote bonding through books. Reese’s soft-edged cartoons are masterful, the backgrounds simple so as to keep the focus on the dilemma (and humor) at hand. Both Baba and Dada have light skin.

This is the Neolithic equivalent of “one more book,” “I need a drink,” “gotta go potty,” and it’s uproarious. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews