Customer Reviews

Pouch!

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Today I had to tackle a preschool storytime. I am not a particularly brave librarian, though. If I find a picture book that works, I have to really work at not using it over and over again in front of a crowd of two to four-year-olds every time I do a storytime. Kids are unafraid to inform you when you are boring the socks off of them. after all. So today I was brave and I used not one, not two, but THREE brand new picture books. It was scary, but it worked. And "Pouch!" by David Ezra Stein, was one of the three. Admittedly, I brought it out because I knew I wanted to review it, but it wasn't field tested (as it were) yet. Now I am happy to report that when read with the right amount of verve and near panic, this is a delightful storytime option that kids and adults alike will both love. Clearly the kangaroo word for "retreat" is "POUCH!"

Joey's a sweet little baby kangaroo who one day gets a wild notion. "Mama," he says, "I want to hop!" Mama's willing, but little Joey is a bit of a panicky sort. On his first outing he runs across a bee. His reaction? "POUCH!" and in he hops. On his second hop about the woods he meets a rabbit. You can guess his reaction. Trip #3 and it's a bird that freaks him out. But on Trip #4 he meets another baby kangaroo. And after both of them give a cry of "POUCH!" they realize how silly they've been. So much so that when their mamas offer a pouch to them at the end, they confidently slap their arms around one another and say with pseudo-nonchalance, "No, thanks."

Stein has style. They say that when you write fiction you should have a distinctive voice. Well, Stein's distinctive voice is in his brush. You can see it in his previous titles like "Monster Hug!" or "Leaves" and you can see it here. In this book he employs watercolors, china marker, and water-soluble crayons. This sort of makes it the kind of art where it looks childlike, but with obvious skill creating the linework. The colors gel together nicely too. From the warm brown/oranges of joey's fur and interior pouchworld to the green/blue sky and that shock of white that outlines the characters at key moments, everything here feels right. And pay attention to when Stein opts to do two-page spreads full of color (as when the two joeys meet for the first time) and when he uses a lot of white space (when they both scream "POUCH!" at the same time). The artist also hides characters in his seemingly simple illustrations. In one shot Joey takes five hopes to the pasture fence. Behind him, the bird and rabbit are hidden, but still in view. Pretty slick.

I also love that the dialogue often, though not always, looks like it's been cut out of the background. The thick white letters have this magnificent hand drawn character to them (you can see it in the title on the cover). It just feels right. Like a kind of kangaroo-speak, maybe. Finally, check out those endpapers. You might miss them the first time around, but look close. Light orange silhouettes play against a yellow background. Those silhouettes turn out to be the animals that frightened little Joey before he met another of his kind.

Joey is consistently afraid of other animals, but it's not as if they're practically threatening. Even the most benign rabbit or jovial bird is cause for panic. Joey's continual advance and retreat will be familiar to anyone who has watched a baby puppy or kitten approach another animal. Stein just gets that trepidation down pat. I love watching the little Joey's body language. You can tell that he's ready to back away at a moment's notice at all times. When he meets the bird his left foot is already raised, ready. Curiosity will win out in the end, but for a while anything that speaks is considered potentially dangerous. Until, of course, it becomes surprisingly familiar.

Ultimately this is a story about coming out of your pouch. For little kids, it's pretty comforting. Mama is almost always nearby, open pouch waiting. The animals deemed scary couldn't be less so unless you slapped ridiculous eyelashes on them (not a suggestion). Stein is just one of those picture book author/illustrators that understands his readers. What he does is hard to do. "Pouch!" is just the latest example of this. It's a prepossessing little gem. Not big and showy. Just the kind of thing that works beautifully in front of big groups or as a cozy one-on-one bedtime book.

Ages 3-7.

Usually it takes one or two readings for my daughter to appreciate a book, but she immediately took to POUCH! We've had it since Friday and I think we've read it about twenty times. Luckily, it's a very sweet book with wonderful illustrations and the adults have been enjoying it too. It's a simple story of a young kangaroo exploring his world, with his mama and her comforting pouch always there in case he's frightened. Not that his world is truly frightening, Joey is just very young. And this is a fun book too, yelling "POUCH!" is fun for both child and parent.

This is a simple and delightful illustration of a child's use of his mother as a "home base" for exploring the world. For more on this principle, see here: [...]

My kids love shouting "POUCH!" when Joey gets scared and needs his mommy. It's a cute story with sweet illustrations.

My son was given this book when he was 10 months old. It was instantly a hit - given his age, I imagine it was more because of the artwork than the story. He loves the pages where Joey yells "Pouch!" and jumps for his mom; they are so expressive. At 16 months he's still asking for it and enjoying it often. Since he has the hardback with paper pages, it needs to stay on the shelf to be read with adults so it won't get torn or too crumpled.

It's a great story, and I hope it will continue to be one he enjoys for years.

We got this book when my son was about 10 months old, and it was an instant favorite. Now at 15 months he will pick it out of a pile of books, bring it to me, and make me read it over and over, getting upset when the story is done, and smiling widely when we start it again. Fortunately, the story is charming. The art is fun, and the pacing is excellent for toddlers -- page turns are relatively fast. The text provides ample opportunities for creative reading with sound effects, voices, and counting "hops."

Thank you for the quick delivery and very nice material. The book was in great condition. Very appreciated

I loved this book. It was an excellent mixture of numbers and story. The illustrations were beautifully done. It has a wonderful ending and made me smile the whole time I was reading it. I think it would be wonderful to read to children. You could have them count along when the numbers show up. It introduces the concept of marsupials and you could read other books that went along with that. It is an excellent book, I give it 5 stars.

Baby Joey Kangaroo takes his first hops out of his mama's pouch. He takes two hops, and then meets something new, and feeling scared, jumps back into his mama's pouch. Over and over, Joey takes a few hops, sees a new animal, and then jumps back into his mama's pouch. Until finally, he takes five hops and meets another baby kangaroo. This time, instead of jumping back into the pouch, the two kangaroos decide to hoppity-hop off together. Children ages 3-6 will adore the warmth of this story of growing independence.

This is the story of Joey, a young kangaroo who is ready to explore the world outside of his mama's pouch. But every time he hops out and meets a new animal, he gets scared and yells "Pouch!" as he jumps back to the safety of his mama. My almost 3 year old really loves this book. She says, "That's a funny book!" and giggles when Joey yells "Pouch!" She also giggles when Joey meets another kangaroo and they start laughing themselves. The illustrations are fun, with Joey's expressions clearly shown. And the lesson of learning to separate from mom is well done with simple words and actions. I definitely recommend this as a read-aloud for preschoolers. It's really cute and fun.