Daddy Calls Me Man

Four abstract or semi-abstract paintings supply the inspiration for the four short, illustrated poems that make up this attractively produced African-American picture book. Though this fairly sophisticated approach may be lost on the young readers for whom the book is intended, the poems aspire to genuine poetic feeling rather than mere rhyme or doggerel, and the pictures are crisp and expertly executed and portray family life at its most warm and joyous.