Nick Bruel
PreSchool-Grade 1–Told mainly through bright, cheerful pictures that are enhanced by bits of dialogue and pertinent sound effects, this simple story will make children smile. A young kangaroo is learning to hop with the help of its mother and their friends, a grasshopper, a rabbit, and a frog. Despite the repeated demonstrations and many words of encouragement, the joey tries is unable to duplicate the resounding "boing" produced by its mother and the others, only managing a feeble "bloomp" or "blop." Finally, a koala that has been looking on from a perch in a tree suggests that the youngster empty its pocket. After pulling out a carefully itemized collection of amusing belongings including, among other things, "1 sock," "2 jacks," "a red ribbon," "a green ribbon," and "a banana," the little kangaroo joyously leaps into the air and off the page in an unexpected pop-up illustration. Pair this charming title with Emily Arnold McCully's First Snow (HarperCollins, 1985), another tale told in pictures of a young animal's triumph over a seemingly insurmountable challenge.
