Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo? by Emma Chichester-Clark
| Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo? by Emma Chichester-Clark | |
|
| |
| Category: For Sharing | |
| |
Reviewer: Magda Healey
 | |
| Summary: Another excellent book about the irrepressible Lily and her cuddly (and occasionally magical) friend, Blue Kangaroo. Perfect for older toddlers and all preschoolers. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: April 2009 |
| Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 978-0007312887 | |
|
Share on: | |
|
| |
Lily loves her Blue Kangaroo very much. So much that she takes him everywhere with her. But Lily is also a typical little girl and she keeps leaving the poor Kangaroo everywhere: on the top of the slide in the play park, on the bus seat and eventually, in the episode that Blue Kangaroo finds most terrifying of all, on a zoo bench from which a monkey snatches it. Kangaroo loves Lily very much, but he doesn't want to be lost for ever, and thus, when excited Lily tells him that they are going to the seaside tomorrow, he decides to sneak out of her bed and hide.
Emma Chichester-Clark is a deservedly popular author and illustrator of picture books and two of her series (Blue Kangaroo and Melrose and Croc) are beloved of patents and children alike. The good people at HarperCollins are reissuing what is possibly one of the best Blue Kangaroo books Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo?.
The text is very natural, simple and not only easy but enjoyable to read aloud. The illustrations are colourful and vivid, in an instantly recognisable style, with enough detail to engage and hold interest, charming but not insufferably cute.
I love the Blue Kangaroo stories and so do both of my children. The younger one who is now almost three years old is as fascinated by Lily's antics as the older one was when she was three or four.
Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo? is perfectly pitched at around three year old level: the situations would be recognisable to any older toddler or preschooler (and most parents would recall instances of the whole family searching for the little one's favourite cuddly toy). Lily is a very realistic three year old too: impulsive, forgetful, eager to explore the world and engage with it. The world Lily inhabits and people that populate are friendly and cheerful (although Lily's mother looks rather haggard), decidedly white urban middle-class, but it doesn't really matter as the situations depicted will be relevant to many children.
The touch of magic lifts Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo? from the mundaneness of other 'real life' picture books, and is certain to appeal to little children: inanimate objects (and particularly cuddly animals) are frequently anthropomorphised and magic has a touchable reality at this age. Blue Kangaroo is more than just a metaphorical friend.
The moral is simple, accessible but not preachy, and I have referred to Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo? when trying to explain the importance of looking after your precious belongings.
Highly recommended for all children aged approximately 2 to 4.
Thanks to the publishers for sending this book to the BookBag.
We also have reviews of It Was You, Blue Kangaroo! and Merry Christmas, Blue Kangaroo!.
Please share on: 
Facebook, 
Twitter and
Instagram
You can read more book reviews or buy Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo? by Emma Chichester-Clark at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo? by Emma Chichester-Clark at Amazon.com.
Comments
Like to comment on this review?
Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.
