No Surprises, Please! Tuesday Is Daddy's Day by Elliot Kreloff

"I AM LUCKY. I HAVE TWO ROOMS!"

Her room at Mommy's has a big blue polka dot bed. At Daddy's she has a cozy pink loft bed with a ladder.

MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAY ARE AT MOMMY'S. TUESDAY AND THURSDAY IS AT DADDY'S.

On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, she alternates. With Mommy she swings at the park. With Daddy and Harry she visits the pet store. At both Mommy's and Daddy's, she likes noodles with butter and cheese better than broccoli, artichokes, and green pesto.

But one Tuesday after school, Daddy is not there. Mommy is! Mommy says he's doing something important and she will take her to Daddy's house. By this time the girl is having a "No changes in my routine, please" meltdown and refuses to get on the bus.

"TUESDAY IS DADDY DAY!" SHE SOBS.

Mommy has to hail a taxi, but when they get to Daddy's house, he's not there yet. Is he walking the plank on a pirate ship? Abducted by aliens? Harry says Daddy has a surprise.

"I DON'T LIKE SURPRISES!" SHE CRIES!

But when Daddy comes in with a small fuzzy puppy for her, she does have just the name for him--

"SURPRISE!"

In Elliot Kreloff's latest, his nicely paced storytelling portrays a couple doing their best to be the best kind of co-parents, cooperating in making two loving homes for their preschool daughter, and his faux-naif crayoned illustrations tell the story visually with aplomb. Author-illustrator Kreloff builds just enough tension and suspense into his text and pictures to draw young children into this gentle story of patience in shared parenting. As a bonus he appends a bonus page of advice for new puppy owners. Says School Library Journal, "For libraries looking for more titles on this topic, this is a perfect choice."