My Dad Is a Tree

When Madeleine’s dad discovers his daughter standing still, arms outstretched, he asks what she’s doing and why. ‘Because a tree gets to stay outside all day long’ comes her explanation. The canny child begs Dad to be a tree too and he agrees, ‘But only for a minute!’ Unfortunately Dad’s dedication to the task makes him a very convincing tree: a baby owl falls asleep on his shoulder and a robin nests in his hair. It’s not long before he’s attracted lots of minibeasts including a spider that spins its web beneath his arm, and a squirrel uses his shirt pocket as a storage facility. Furthermore the poor long-suffering chap is hit by a kite, soaked by an unexpected rain shower and he’s still standing there when darkness falls – trees aren’t of course bothered by such insignificant things, Madeleine assures him.

Finally, Dad’s dedication to the task runs out and it seems others have too: off flies the baby owl to join its parent leaving the two humans alone. Unsurprisingly it’s the child who has the last word on the matter: ‘We definitely are not trees. But that’s OK. We got to stay outside all day long!’ What of tomorrow, one wonders and so does the child.

Weird and wacky, this is a playful celebration of the power of the imagination and the lengths some small children will go to in order to get what they want, and the lengths some Dads will got to for their little ones.  Agee’s dead pan telling and collage style illustrations of a young child challenging parental authority are delightfully droll. Parents beware if you share this one, who knows what might happen.