Hooked by Tommy Greenwald (review)

Joe loves fishing, "even though nothing much happened"; his father, however, is more of an indoors guy, so Joe gets his cast on with a fishing club. When it comes time for the winter ice fishing outing, the club requires that a parent or guardian attend, so Joe's father agrees to go along. A twelve-degree sit on a frozen lake clearly isn't Dad's thing, but soon a funny thing happens: "Joe and his dad started to talk," and the outing turns into a sweet shared father-son experience. The text is kindly and respectful, understanding Joe's hope of fatherly involvement but never demonizing Dad; the climax, where Joe's big catch turns out to be a sodden stuffed animal, moves nimbly from defeat to comedy to unexpected reward. McPhail's softly rumply line and watercolor illustrations have an old-fashioned flavor, contemporized with a multicultural cast; the pale, gentle hues deftly echo the story's warmth and quiet patience. Kids who'd similarly love to share a beloved pastime with a parent will relate to Joe, and if the story convinces some adult readers-aloud to join youngsters in fishing or Minecraft or whatever, so much the better. DS