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Every morning a boy and his father play a game: “KNOCK KNOCK,” says papa, and the boy pretends to be asleep, before jumping into his father’s arms. Then one morning papa doesn’t come anymore. The boy realizes his father is gone for good, grows up, and finds happiness. In a rare topic for younger children, Beaty explores the theme of permanent separation from a parent (it could be prison, death, or abandonment). The desire for guidance encountering life’s experiences is told from a small child’s point of view with candor, as well as hope, as he ends quoting papa’s advice to “KNOCK KNOCK down the doors that I could not. IL K-3. AR 2.9. RC 3.7. Lexile 500. F+P N. | |