A father gives zany explanations when confronted by his daughter's complaints about how "adults are unfair."
Young readers will relate to the child's complaints, and parents will relate to the father's surprise and panic at having to answer unexpected questions from a child.
While I appreciated how the child was allowed to voice her perceptions of the world and that the parent turned by the tables on the child at the end by complaining that "children are unfair," I didn't care for this book. I am not one for wacky humor. And as a parent, I am also not as indulgent as the father in the story.
"Parents are unfair." Life is unfair. Get used to it. The role of a parent is to guide a child to become a functional and respectful adult, not to make sure that a child is happy and entertained 24 hours a day.
Why do children have an earlier bedtime than adults? Because children require more sleep than adults, and it is the duty of the parents to make sure their children have adequate sleep for their health and wellness. Also, adults often have to do off-the-clock work for their jobs and all the thankless housework after the children go to bed. They may even try to squeeze in some exercise or their hobbies.
Why do adults decide when children need baths? Because adults establish the household routines, and proper hygiene is important for one's health and social relationships.
Why do children have to eat vegetables? Because a healthy diet is critical for good health and cognitive function, and developing lifelong healthy eating habits begin in childhood.
Why do adults get to watch to the news when children want to watch children's programming 24/7? Because adults need to know what is happening locally and globally in order to be well informed and good citizens.
Why do adults tell children "I'm busy right now" or "later" when the children want them to stop and drop everything to do something with them or talk to them right now? Because sometimes adults are busy, and anything non-critical sometimes needs to wait until a good stopping point or the completion of a task. Being able to entertain oneself is a critical life skill; start cultivating it. Also, the least one is interrupted, the faster one is able to complete a task.
The child did have some valid complaints. For example, she criticized her father for telling her "Do whatever you want" when he is angry at her. That is not good parenting if it is a common response to her misbehavior. It is also a recipe for disaster, especially for easily disregulated children with poor impulse control, because children lack the prefrontal cortex development to understand sarcasm.
Likewise, his refusal go outside and play with her because he is busy watching tv is a prime example of uninvolved parenting or the refusal to parent. I have countless friends and acquaintances whose childhood memories of their fathers are of them sitting in a recliner in front of the tv whenever they weren't at work. Is that how this father wants his daughter to remember him? Is staring a tv, especially in a day and age when virtually every television series or movie is available on demand, more important than interacting with one's small child?
As to why adults will sometimes yell at children when they are mad, when adults are upset, they are more reactive, especially to sources of chronic frustration like toys left out all over the floor that need to be put away.
The illustrations were in pen and digital.