Best Case Scenario! Llama, Llama, Meets the Babysitter by Anna Dewdney and Reed Duncan

Mama Llama has an announcement. She is going out, and Grandma can't come. Little Llama will have a babysitter!

Llama Llama immediately goes right into disaster mode.

"WILL SHE PLAY MY FAVORITE GAME?"

"WILL SHE EVEN KNOW MY NAME?

Will she fix his favorite snack? What if Mama Llama does not come back?

Llama is both SAD and MAD! He makes a plan to be bad!

"I WON'T HAVE FUN!

INSTEAD I WILL RUN!

But when Mama Llama opens the door, he sees a face he's seen before. It's Molly, the girl at the ice cream store who makes his favorite cones. And not only that, but she has brought a bag full of small ice cream cups and toppings to sample. All's well that begins with ice cream sundaes with chocolate sauce and cherries on top! And then, there's kickball in the backyard with Molly, who never gets too tired.

ICE CREAM, READING, HIDE 'N' SEEK,

LLAMA COULD DO THIS ALL WEEK!

And as Mama Llama tells Llama it's time to hit the sack, Little Llama asks when Molly's coming back, in Anna Dewdney and Reed Duncan's just published, Llama Llama Meets the Babysitter (Viking Books, 2021).

Thankfully for youngsters, author Reed Duncan has taken over the late Anna Dewdney's warm and funny rhyming mother-and-son early childhood stories for youngsters yet to come, along with the delightfully expressive illustrations of JT Morrow.

Share this one with another milestone story, Llama Llama Loose Tooth Drama (Viking Books, 2020).

Eat It And Be A Pirate, Too! Pirate Stew by Neil Gaiman

The night my mum and dad went out, I said, "We won't be babysat."

They said, "You must not grump or pout!

We're going out

and that is that!

Say hello to your babysitter!"

The brother and sister are not pleased to see their parents all decked out for a Saturday date night, but any further argument is quashed when they see their babysitter.

Right leg a peg, left arm a hook;

He grinned and said, "My card."

It read...

LONG JOHN McRON, SHIP'S COOK.

A cursory inventory of the family's fridge fails to meet Long John's approval, and, joined by a motley crew of assistants, Long John declares that nothing will do but that they make Pirate Stew.

"Pirate stew, pirate stew!

Eat it and you'll be a pirate, too!

All the hearty buccaneers add something to the pot--seeds from the parrot, a slice of plank that was walked, doubloons and haddock, leeks and limes and mermaids tears, all well stirred with a scimitar, and soon the crew and cook dip the steaming stew out into bowls for the maties. They all chow down, a merry crew. But the two kids eschew the magical brew. The brother takes a pass, and his sister nods, "Me, too."

But the crew is still peckish, so Long John McRon raises sails and they fly through the air freely toward a downtown donut shop. The owner says she's closing down for the night, but McRon and his marauders won't take no for an answer.

"Hand over your donuts, hearties. We'll have a donut party!"

And after the crew down their donuts, Long John drops them off at the pub for some grog and rum, and with the weary kids in tow Long Jon McRon flies right back home, just in time to make the kids' curfew. Their parents find them sadly sitting on the floor, surrounded by pirate detritis, crumbs, and an almost empty donut box. And beside them on the counter are the kids' two bowls of Pirate Stew, seemingly still steaming--and their parents, whose dinner was sadly lacking, can't resist some late-night snacking.

And so, my lads and lassies, call that a happy ending or a bad,

From that day on, a Pirate Mom and Dad was what these landlubbers had!

The Newbery Award-winning Neil Gaiman can be counted upon to come up with a fantastical story, told in jolly rhyme, and this one, Pirate Stew (Quill Tree Books, 2020), with its undertones of Peter Pan-style pirates, is certainly an offbeat story. Gaiman's wordsmithery is evident in his rhyming text with its unexpected turns, and illustrator Chris Riddell, winner of the Greenaway Medal, the British version of our Caldecott Award for picture book artistry, makes the most of Gaiman's imaginative setting and gloriously quirky characters in his fanciful drawings. Says Booklist, "Highly enjoyable, with Gaiman’s silly, singsong verses the perfect ingredient for a raucous read-aloud. Riddell’s predictably fabulous illustrations are ablaze with color and detail."

Daughter on Duty! Daddy-Sitting by Eve Coy

Today I'm Daddy-sitting.

He likes to get up early...

This fond little preschooler is a bit sanguine in her description. Actually, Daddy is still sacked out, while his energetic daughter is already wide-awake, and it takes a dive onto his bed and her helpful cat slapping at his hand to rouse him. But at last he's up, and she "helps" by pouring milk on his cereal (and the table).

But once he's well fed, his dutiful daughter helps him get his daily workout by towing her behind his bicycle to the park, pushing her swing, and going for a swim in the pool. Excess energy worked off, Dad makes a quick run to the grocery store for dinner supplies. Back home, the girl has her work cut out for her--tea-partying with her cat and doll, coloring her drawings, and building block towers, while Dad takes it easy doing some laundry.

Ooops!

Sometimes he doesn't watch where he's going.

But his daughter-on-duty soothes his boo-boo and tries to builds his self-esteem, telling him he's smart enough to be anything when he grows up--astronaut, nurse, detective, even chocolate maker!

But her dad says there's only one job he wants right now...

...being my DADDY!

Eve Coy's gentle vignette of a loving family, Daddy-Sitting (Clarion Books, 2019) is a heart-warming diary of a daddy-daughter duo. Coy's charming illustrations are slices of daily life, just an ordinary day with daddy in a very loving parent-child relationship. Family love is built that way, one day at a time, and Coy's cute little preschool girl is one lucky kid, learning the skills of care-taking as Daddy takes good care of her. This one is great to have on hand for Fathers Day or any day.