"Are You My Dad?" - a bookwrap

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Unwrapping

"Are You My Dad?"

Authored by Leslie Kelley

Illustrated by Kirk Werner

Ages:  4-8

Grade Level:  PS-3

Unwrapping some Editorial Reviews

"Werner's soft lines balance cartoon approachability with animal accuracy perfectly for the age group, and Kelly's gentle telling is sure to require rereads. A delightful addition to the "are you my" category." Kirkus Reviews

"Leslie Kelley's Are You My Dad? Is a lovely introduction to the creatures of the Antarctic..." Foreword Clarion Reviews

Unwrapping some sweet illustrations for you

A message from Leslie Kelley, author of Are You My Dad?...

I have been a lover of children's picture books my entire life. After reading the children's picture book, The Emperor's Egg, I became fascinated with emperor penguins and Antarctica! How could any animal possibly survive in such a cold and desolate climate, especially a tiny penguin chick?! And the male bird cares for the egg until it hatches, which is very unique in nature... 

My first children's picture book, Are You My Dad?, began to take form shortly after. Based loosely on P.D. Eastman's book, Are You My Mother?, my book follows an adventurous baby penguin on a trek to find her lost father. Spoiler alert: I'm a sucker for a happy ending! ~Leslie Kelley

About the book

This delightful book with its adorable main character is a delight to read and to share.  

A baby Empire Penguin chick after wiggling and twisting herself rolls her egg right off of her dad's feet and down a small hill!  The wind picks her up and pushes her egg and it rolls down a BIG hill.  Pop!! Out she comes ...  

"Where is my dad?" she asked.  She looked left. She peered right. She glanced behind and gazed in front...

"My dad is lost!" she cried.  "I must go find him," and away she went.

 She slips, slides, and waddles along encountering an albatross, an orca, and an elephant seal, just to name a few.  Each time she asks them the same question... "Are you my dad?"  Sadly they have to answer no.

"My dad is very lost.  Where can he be?!" she worried and began to 

waddle faster..."

She discovers a strange thing climbing out of the sea. Something that knows how to swim and has flippers but does not know how to fly. 

"Dad? Dad? DAD! I found you! she squealed.

The stranger stops, lifts an object to his face and starts clicking his camera madly.  Realizing it is not her dad but a "clicker" (her sweet word ) she slides quickly away.

Will the poor little chick ever get reunited with her beloved dad?  With brute determination and a never-give-up-spirit (my words), she finally experiences success and it's hard to tell which penguin is happier for their reunion.  Dad snuggles in his precious baby girl and holds on to her ever so tight.  He has a HUGE contented smile on his face and in his heart too I'm sure.

The illustrations are cartoonish, kid-friendly and extremely heartwarming.  I know that kids will love the story and will learn some names and characteristics of animals residing in Antarctica.  I love the book and highly recommend it. 

  

Storywraps Rating... 5+++HUGS!!!!!

About the author

 Leslie Kelley has been a book lover her entire life. As a child, she would borrow the maximum books allowed during weekly summer visits to the local book mobile, as her small town of Seabeck, WA did not have it's own public library. This love of books lead her to a love of story writing as a small child, and today, she is thrilled to FINALLY be publishing her first children's book, Are You My Dad?! When she's not writing and dreaming up lovely animal stories, Leslie is adding color to people's homes, businesses, or designs through her small business, Leslie Kelley COLOR, in Kirkland, WA. She also loves spending time with her husband, Sean and their two grown children, Connor and Natalie- boating on Lake Washington, hiking, walking their little dog Kermit, cooking healthy and delicious meals, or traveling the world together.

About the illustrator 

A published children's book author himself, lifelong Washington state resident Kirk Werner considers himself to be, first and foremost, an illustrator as drawing has always been his first passion and is something that he began doing well before he ever learned to read or write as a child, and creating visual art (as both an illustrator and graphic designer) is something he has continued to do in his adult life because it brings him great satisfaction--without the stress associated with being a writer and worrying about such weighty matters as run-on sentences.

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