What Teachers Can’t Do

Following in the tradition of What Dads Can’t Do (2001) and What Moms Can’t Do (2000), Wood moves on to present a tongue-in-cheek look at the shortcomings of teachers. It is well-known that teachers are not allowed to be tardy and that they cannot ride skateboards to school, but readers might be surprised to discover that teachers cannot buy their own apples or that they “can’t teach best without flowers on their desk.” It’s amazing that with all their knowledge they can’t seem to spell the word “cat” or remember the solution to two plus two. Perhaps they are distracted by the fact that “they can’t use that hall pass to go to the bathroom;” maybe it’s that “teachers can’t go down the tube slide at recess...”  But whatever their shortcomings, it’s the things they can do that seem to matter. Hilarious and brightly colored drawings of the dinosaur teachers with pearls and glasses and dinosaur preschoolers with backpacks and pigtails accompany the text. It seems that even after having paint on their clothes and chalk dust in their hair and lungs, teachers “can’t wait to come back to school tomorrow.” Worthy praise for an under-appreciated profession.
—Kirkus Reviews

If you’ve seen Wood’s earlier efforts, What Dads Can’t Do and What Moms Can’t Do, you know that the books are really a celebration of what adults can do. Everyone knows the answer when the teacher can’t quite remember what 2 plus 2 equals or how to help when the teacher can’t spell “cat.” The paintings of dinosaurs by Doug Cushman are a delight. This would be a good book for lower elementary children and a nice gift for a teacher.
—Detroit News/Free Press

What Grandmas Can’t Do

What Grandmas Can’t Do provides a sort of rule book for all the things that grandmoms are just not capable of... Grandmoms may have become wise through their years, but you’ll see there’s still a lot they can’t do...
—Parents Express Magazine

Another book in a reassuring series that includes What Moms Can’t Do (2001) and What Dads Can’t Do (2000, both S & S). As in previous titles, a young dinosaur comments on the personality traits of a particular adult... The pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are filled with humorous details and reinforce the warm relationship between grandparent and child... The text and outcome of this story are as predictable and comforting as bedtime routines in the well-ordered life of a well-loved child.
—School Library Journal

What Moms Can’t Do (New York Times Best Seller)

Wood’s companion title to What Dads Can’t Do is a droll salute to motherhood. A young child considers the many “limitations” his mother stoically endures; from her apparent inability to make tasty brown-bag lunches to her difficulties with saying good-bye. Young children will get a kick out of the comical text... What is an unexpected treasure is how such brief and utterly comical statements can convincingly convey the deep bonds between mother and child... The dynamic interaction between prose and pictures makes this sweetly funny and winsome tale a delight for adults to read and children to hear.
—Kirkus Reviews

Following closely on the heels of What Dads Can’t Do and starring the same irresistible dinos, What Moms Can’t Do by Douglas Wood, illus. by Doug Cushman, once again injects humor into every scenario. The spread “Moms can’t wait... to wake up kids in the morning. They can’t make the bed without lots of help,” for instance, shows only a set of reptilian toes on a pillow, then jumping on the bed to “help” make it.
—Publishers Weekly

The green dinochild of What Dads Can’t Do enjoys listing the activities his mother can’t seem to accomplish without his help. She can’t make lunch without advice (the illustrations indicate his preference for “Gummi Goops” over a sandwich and carrot sticks), she can’t push the grocery cart fast enough, and sometimes she can’t hear herself think (“Whatever that means”)... The can-do spirit of the story – and the message that moms will always be there for you and love you – remains strong.
—Booklist

What Dads Can’t Do (New York Times Best Seller)

Wood’s (Old Turtle) refreshing, spontaneous tale spotlights the rapport between a patient, apparently single father and his all-knowing child... Just the right blend of sassiness and sentiment.
—Publishers Weekly

This amusing picture book will tickle youngsters’ funny bones and make every parent and child smile with recognition... Whether read one-on-one or in a group, this story is sure to generate smiles all around.
 —School Library Journal

A super story warm with the love between a father and his child, this selection is perfect for Father’s Day – or anytime.
—Dallas, TX Morning News

In What Dads Can’t Do (Simon & Schuster; $14), author Douglas Wood and illustrator Doug Cushman team up to offer a hilarious book. Even young readers will understand that dads really aren’t such bumbling fools, but it’s delicious fun to have to show your dad how to cook, and it can be comforting when it’s your father who says he’s scared of monsters and has to check under the bed before bedtime.
—Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette

According to this young narrator, it’s a wonder that dads can survive at all. They can’t play hide-and-seek very well, they can’t hit a baseball very far, and they always seem to lose at checkers. But with so many things dads can’t do, they seem highly capable of loving their children. A clever story that stirs laughter in both parents and children.
—Ohioana Quarterly