Riley and the jumpy kangaroo by Tania McCartney
Ill. by Kieron Pratt. Ford St Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781925000023
(hardback). ISBN 978192500030 (Paperback).
Highly recommended for young readers from 5 to 10. There were two
excellent reasons I was keen to review this latest Riley book.
Firstly, after two very happy years living and teaching in Canberra,
I knew I would relish the chance to share one of my favourite places
with my littlies. Secondly, I remember an absolutely fantastical fun
day hosting Tania McCartney in my library at Red Hill School and
watching the children fascinated with her presentation and her
stories about Riley - and the grand finale of launching dozens of
red paper planes across the library space. An exciting follow
up to this story was one little Prep boy writing and illustrating
his own Riley story which we gleefully scanned and sent to Tania,
who was thrilled.
Tania has created a loyal and enthusiastic fan base among younger
readers who simply eat up Riley's adventures (and I am convinced
imagine themselves flying in a little red bi-plane to their own next
destination).
This newest adventure coincides with Canberra's centenary and gives
readers a glimpse of many iconic images from our nation's capital. I
loved being able to show Miss Small the places I had seen so often
during my Canberra sojourn, when she had been here in Brisbane
wondering all the time about the strange place I described in
letters and phone calls. She now has a much clearer idea of a
city she has never seen. And she thoroughly enjoyed trying to
figure out just what that jumpy kangaroo was looking for!
Tania's books are such a marvellous blend of fiction and non-fiction
- like a whimsical travelogue for young ones - and children love to
identify with places they know or have seen on TV or in
movies. The Riley books are cleverly illustrated by combining
photographic images of each city with Kieron Pratt's quirky
cartoon-style additions. The resulting contrast is always
sensational.
I am certainly hoping that Brisbane might be next on Tania's list!
Sue Warren