In Matt Phelan's (Bluffton) winning antidote to rainy-day doldrums, Penelope does not let the weather confine her. At her father's invitation, her imagination takes flight, leading them into a series of shared adventures.
The gray of stormy skies dominates the opening trio of images, as a girl and her bunny stare out at the relentless rain. "I'm bored," says Penelope, slouching against the doorjamb of the room where her father reads a book. "If you had your druthers, what would you do?" he asks, seated on the floor facing her. Their golden-tinged clothing and matching red hair visually seal their connection. In answer to his daughter's question, "What are druthers?" he answers, "Druthers are what you would rather do if you could do anything at all." Penelope thinks about this, then offers a world of possibilities: a trip to the zoo (Dad uses the columns in the banister like a cage and acts like a gorilla) and an outing as a cowgirl (Dad doffs a ten-gallon hat and says "Howdy-do!"). The toys on the floor double as props for each imagined scenario. As the girl's ideas become more rapid-fire and far-fetched, Dad looks worn out, and the once-orderly living room falls into chaos.
Still, her father knows he's met with success when his daughter tells him what she'd want "if I really had my druthers" (another rainy day tomorrow). Matt Phelan's message that there's no need for boredom when you can tap into your imagination is a welcome alternative to electronic placation. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness