A little girl who's dad was use to have Saturday off to play with her while mom stays with her twin babies, when dad have to go back to work on that day she gets mad and bored, until she decided it could still be dadurday and prepare everything for when gets home they could spent time together doing what they enjoy the most.
Ages 3-6
tacoma library

Mimi enjoys spending Saturdays with her dad. ( )

Great book about a girl and her dad. The story starts off with a wonderful dadurday that they share together and all the things they decide to do. All of this stops when Mimi's dad has to start working on Saturdays, which is dadurday.
Mimi has a hard time trying to cope with the fact that she no longer gets to spend a special day with dad. But, after her long day, without dad, she decides to surprise her dad when her gets home. They both find out that even though they no longer get their special day they still love each other, and that is what matters most. ( )

Mimi is a little girl who loves her dad. She enjoys spending Saturdays with him. She renames Saturday to Dadurday since they always do things together on this day. They make breakfast together, go to the library, play in the rain, just to name a few. Things change when her dad begins to work on Saturdays. She gets mad and begs him to stay home. She has no one to play with and becomes really bored. After thinking a while, she decides that Saturdays can still be fun. She makes the traditional pancakes she use to make with her dad, makes party hats and draws on the sidewalk to surprise her dad when he got home. She learns to make the best of Saturday evenings with her dad. I gave this book a low rating because it shows her yelling at her mom and she doesn't speak nicely of her twin siblings. She is selfish. She only thinks of herself. I don't think young children can learn anything from this book. ( )

I thought this was going to be another one of those saccharine mommy (or in this case daddy) love books and avoided it for some time. I should have realized that Robin Pulver's conventional but cheery stories and Alley's endearing pen and ink style would not let me down.

Mimi loves her special days with her dad. Every Saturday is Dadurday and together they plan wonderful adventures, from making pancakes to going to the library. But what will happen to Dadurday when Dad's work schedule changes?

Pulver and Alley have created a story that's sweet without being saccharine. Kids and parents will easily recognize their own feelings of disappointment and frustration when things don't work out. I loved that the author portrayed so clearly a child's devastation when a tradition that they've come to expect ends and the frustration with grown-up concerns that don't make sense in their world. There's no happily-ever-after where Dad's schedule gets changed back and everything comes right, but Mimi manages her own happy ending, growing up a little as she learns to be flexible and see things from another perspective.

There's plenty of solid cheeriness in Alley's illustrations showing the mischievous dog, tired Dad, and exhausted Mom, not to mention the twins, but the real genius of the pictures is the simple delight the reader sees in the bond between father and daughter as they celebrate Dadurday together in many different ways.

Verdict: Of course this will be a popular choice around Father's Day, but it makes a sweet father-daughter read any time of the year. The best storytime audience will need to be a little older, say kindergarten to pick up all the details of the story and empathize with Mimi's feelings and actions.

ISBN: 9780802786913; Published 2013 by Walker Books/Bloomsbury; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to the library's order list