FICTION

If I Were a Kangaroo

by Mylisa LARSEN
illus. by Anna Raff. 32p. ebook available. Viking. Apr. 2017. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780451469588.
COPY ISBN
PreS—A sweet bedtime tale about various animals drifting off to sleep with their young. In addition to the titular kangaroo, there are giraffes, chickens, squirrels, bats, sea otters, gorillas, and more. For example, "If I were a giant whale,/I'd sing you songs—slow epic tales./Fin to fin, down in the deep./We'd drift together into sleep." Readers will enjoy the gentle rhyming flow of the text. Raff's illustrations are soothing, done in jewel tones on minimal backdrops. Pair this pleasing title with Nancy Tillman's On the Night You Were Born for storytime.
VERDICT The animals are expressive and charming, making this selection perfect for bedtime and one-on-one sharing.
Reviewed by Megan McGinnis, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY
A human mother narrator imagines the bedtime routines of animals for her child. Simply composed illustrations in a cool color palette depict smiling parent-and-child animal pairs engaging in affectionate interactions, with two lilting rhyming couplets accompanying each spread. It's a pleasant but otherwise unremarkable bedtime story. Appended "Sleepy Animal Notes" expand on the sleep habits of the represented species.
 , Mar 01, 2017

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