Paula Knows What To Do

Gr 1-3–Paula wakes up on Saturday morning and knows something is wrong. Rather than smelling coffee and hot chocolate, she hears and smells nothing. She waits as long as she can before getting out of bed to paint her daddy a picture. After painting, Paula goes in to her daddy’s room to ask him if he is going to get up. He says not yet because he is sad. Paula decides to paint her daddy a picture of a boat and asks him to go sailing with her. She makes up a story where she and her daddy are sailing on a beautiful sunny day. Daddy then conjures a storm that throws their boat around in the sea. Paula saves them by using the sail to have them fly up high in the sky. After flying over fields, mountains, and canyons, Paula and Daddy fall safely to Daddy’s bed. Daddy then makes himself coffee and Paula hot chocolate and they look at all of Paula’s paintings. Paula knew just what to do to cheer her daddy up a bit despite the loss of Paula’s mommy. This poignant book is filled with love and kindness. Paula and her daddy take care of one another following the loss. Despite their sadness, this tale highlights the relationship that Paula and her daddy still have. The illustrations are filled with softly drawn pictures of Paula and Daddy, along with Paula’s paintings in bold primary colors.