[close] What a happy, happy place the world would be if daddies always did all the things they do best: bake you a magnificent birthday cake, give you a piggyback ride, hold you when you're feeling sad. In Laura Joffe Numeroff (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie) and Lynn Munsinger's picture book world, they do indeed! Munsinger's adorable (but not cutesy) watercolors depict a hippo papa, fox father, bunny daddy, and more top pops, giving their little ones "lots and lots of love." Terrific detail and brief text ("Daddies can help you make a garden grow") create just the right mix in this reassuring bedtime read aloud. In one spread, the goat dad offers his daughter cough syrup and a teddy bear as she hunkers down in her tissue-strewn sickbed; in another, a bunny's father helps her blow-dry the family dog after a bath. Mommy feeling left out? Numeroff and Munsinger sing her praises, too, in What Mommies Do Best. Cuddly enjoyment for the whole family! (Ages 2 to 6) --Emilie Coulter [close]