This poignant picture book chronicles a joyful girl narrator's hard-to-bear anticipation and special preparations for a journey with her grandmother to see her father. Both text and artwork keep the destination a mystery, wisely focusing instead on the excitement of the upcoming reunion. As Woodson's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Other Side) rhythmic prose, punctuated by the refrain ("only on visiting day"), builds a sense of expectation, Ransome (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Satchel Paige), too, underscores the build-up. Wordless spreads depict Grandma fixing the narrator's hair and the pair climbing aboard the bus. Meanwhile, the girl imagines her father making his own preparations. Ransome portrays a handsome man in khaki shirt and slacks; a calendar on the wall marks the days to his daughter's visit, hanging next to her artwork accented with red hearts. Ultimately, "the bus pulls up in front of a big old building where, as Grandma puts it, Daddy is doing a little time." Ransome shows barbed-wire atop high walls and a guard tower in stern relief against a perfect blue sky. Throughout, he uses a radiant, rich, marine blue (the bus's accents, the girl's dress and a prison guard's uniform) to contrast freedom and captivity. Told completely from a child's perspective, the narrative makes no judgment about what Daddy did or why he's incarcerated. A shared feeling of hope and family togetherness pervades each spread, from Grandma cooking fried chicken in the morning for the bus ride, to the narrator sitting down with crayons when she gets home to make Daddy more pictures. Any child who has been separated from a loved one can identify with the feelings of this winning heroine. Ages 4-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Oct.)

In this hopeful book, Woodson and Ransome, both of whom have had a loved one behind bars, tell what it's like in this small slice of life presented through the eyes of an unnamed African American girl. When the smell of fried chicken seasons the air and her Grandma carefully braids her hair, the child knows that she's going visiting somewhere special. In another place, prison, Dad is getting ready, too--brushing his teeth and putting on a white shirt: That pretty little girl of mine is coming today. The visit is sweet, heartfelt, and even idyllic, with the characters' love for one another the central theme of the story. Woodson eschew strident messages about breaking the law and judgments or discussion of why Dad is behind bars. In fact, the word prison never appears in the text, letting kids focus on the father and child's simple joy at being together. Ransome's muscular, unfussy paintings mostly radiate that joy, but there's also a subtle undercurrent of wistfulness in the child's expressions (she knows her dad will stay behind), and the views of families chatting and laughing stand in sharp contrast to the plain, perhaps more honest, views of the prison--barbed wire atop the outside walls and a uniformed guard in the visiting room. Little ones may not fully grasp these subtleties, but they'll surely feel the quiet shift in mood as Ransome's colors change. As the Read-alikes on the opposite page demonstrates, this isn't the first picture book about a child whose parent is behind bars, but it is unusual in that it beautifully opens out into a story about being separated from a loved one--and surely every child can identify with that.

It's Visiting Day, and the young narrator knows that she and Grandma will be going to see Daddy at the place where "Daddy is doing a little time." Staying true to the girl's perspective, the focus is on the steps of the journey and the anticipation that fuels it. The paintings are richly, warmly colored and attentive to the human bonds that shape the story. The author and artist's autobiographical notes give the story personal resonance.

A little girl and her grandmother wake early to prepare for the trip to visit the girl's father. There are smiles of excited anticipation as Grandma fries chicken and braids the little girl's hair before they catch the bus. The bus ride has a festive air as the riders share lunch. Finally, they arrive at the prison where Daddy waits eagerly to see his daughter and mother. Once home, Grandma reassures the girl that "one day we'll be able to wake up and have Daddy right there in our house again." Ransome's ( Quilt Counting , p. 951, etc.) lovely, bold acrylic paintings depict the girl and her grandmother in a neat, well-ordered, well-cared-for environment—even the scenes in the prison are cheery and bright and imply that the inmates are not violent offenders. Woodson ( Our Gracie Aunt , not reviewed, etc.) and Ransome accomplish the goal of representing a loving family holding up admirably in the face of adversity. Nevertheless, for some it may be difficult not to wonder what Daddy did to land in prison. The girl's family may love each other unconditionally (as the jacket copy states), but it is a more difficult job for the reader whose questions about Daddy go unanswered. That all the prison inmates but one are black, as are all the visitors, while the prison guard is white raises another set of questions. Although this reflects a reality about disproportionate incarceration rates for African-American men, does it also perpetuate stereotypes? Overall, a sensitive approach to a difficult issue that will certainly provoke discussion. (author and illustrator notes) (Picture book. 5-8)

PreS-Gr 2-A little girl shares a special day that starts early with Grandma frying chicken and braiding the child's hair. In quite another setting, her father is buttoning his plain white shirt against a plain blue-gray background decorated only by a child's drawings taped to the wall and a calendar marking off days. A bus takes Grandma and the narrator to a building with high walls and barbed wire where "Daddy is doing a little time." It's a happy visit until they must part and her father goes through one door with a guard standing by and the youngster is led away by her grandmother. Back home, she has her crayons out to make pictures for him and awaits his return. The text is spare, gentle, and reassuring, never mentioning the words crime or jail. Ransome's vibrant acrylic paintings fill each page at home with intense pinks, yellows, greens, and blues in contrast to the monotone hue of the prison walls. Both author and illustrator provide notes that relate this story to their own personal experiences. Use this book with children who have an incarcerated parent as well as with those who have no understanding at all about that painful separation. Woodson's Our Gracie Aunt (Hyperion, 2002) is about children separated from their jailed mother.-Susan Pine, New York Public Library Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.