My Little Girl by Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas

My Little Girl
by Tim McGraw and Tom Douglas
illustrated by Juilia Denos
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (October 21, 2008)

The story is simply and easily told: a Dad and daughter day of doing nothing in particular, but having fun just doing those things together.

While the story idea is nice and is something we taught our daughter--that "doing nothing" can be a very special day--the story itself was a bit too sappy sweet for my taste. I'm sure there are super lovey dad's out there, but for most women that I have known, this was not the case. Given that as my guideline, this book may not be for every Dad and daughter, especially if the child in question is old enough to wonder why her dad isn't like the one in the book. Furthermore, it just didn't feel "natural" to my mind.

One minor point that niggled at me was the dog. I couldn't understand why the dog's odd (un-child friendly and not read-out-loud friendly) name was included. McGraw family dog? Douglas family dog? It just felt out of place and baffled me.

The art work was lovely! Bright and flowing water colors and very real and personable looking characters. I was enchanted by it. Ms. Denos did a fantastic job. She deserves 5 stars for her art, and I wish there was some way to rate illustrations alone. Without her art, this would have only been a 2 star book.

I honestly think that they are planning on using Tim McGraw (and Faith Hill's preface) as the selling point for this book, and got the feeling the book was more about them (how much they love their children and family life) than it was about a general dad and daughter.