Picture Book Review: The Bureau of Misplaced Dads

The Bureau of Misplaced Dads
by Éric Veillé and Pauline Martin
Publisher: Kids Can Press, 2015
Source: Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

This is a silly story about a little boy who can't find his dad. He meets a man who works at the Bureau and takes him there to find his father. The little boy sees many different dads who are waiting to be found, but not his own. He finally realizes that he knows where his father is and runs home to find him.

The story is strange and a little sad too as the man who brings the little boy to the bureau says that there are dads there who have been then forever waiting for their children to find them. He also says that every so often they just let some of them wander off free, like they are letting them escape something. When the little boy is given the chance to choose a different dad instead of his own, I was very much put off. I realize I'm looking into this way too much for a children's book, but it was unnerving.

The pictures didn't help very much either. They are also strange and the men are somewhat creepy--not all of them, but some of them--especially one of a giant hiding in a box, peeking out with knife and fork. I think they're supposed to be playful, but I'm unsure.

I did share this with my two-year-old, but the pictures didn't hold her interest much. It's not one we'll be adding to our collection anytime soon.


Image Source: Goodreads 

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