Ouch!!

As a father who likes to throw and kick and hit a ball around the park with my kids, my initial reaction to this book is "Ooops! Is that me?"

This is a most perceptive look at dads and their games, through the eyes of the child who has to put up with it. 

"Every day when he gets home from work, I go to the park with my dad. Dad's really good at cricket, and he teaches me everything he knows. And that's great ... isn't it?"

Well, unfortunately, dad tends to be the show-off boy himself and hogs the batting.  So our narrator simply stops going to the park with his dad. 

In a deceptively simple text, Hayley Smithers conveys some very profound observations about family dynamics and the pain that can be caused by not paying attention to the feelings of others.  John Yahyeh supports this emotional journey very well through the facial expressions of father and son.  The delight on the boy's face in the early pages on being with his dad gradually fades as disappointment and resentment creep in.  The father stays open-faced and oblivious until "Mum must have had a talk to him".

All is resolved but a powerful lesson to fathers is presented. Go to any junior sports event and see how much it needs to be learned.

Review by David Beagley

© 2004 David Beagley