Heart in the Pocket
PreSchool-Grade 3—A tale of separation anxiety, kangaroo-style. In a twist on Margaret Wise Brown'sThe Runaway Bunny(HarperCollins, 1942), Mama Kangaroo, who "loves her little Jo-Jo a lot, lot, lot," tries to coax him out of her pouch. She shows him the beautiful things around them, like a bird and a cloud in the sky, and asks, "Wouldn't you like to be a floating cloud?" Jo-Jo has no interest—he wants to stay warm and protected in her pocket. She eases him out little by little, however, and places him gently onto the ground so that the two can bound off together to explore the world. It's okay now, because Jo-Jo knows that Mama "will always hold his heart in her pocket." The gentle, well-crafted text is sweet, but not overly so. The watercolor illustrations have a soft palette dominated by yellowish tans and light blues, and expressively portray a wise and loving mother with her shy, slightly fearful child.—Jane Marino, Bronxville Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.