This is a story almost every Mom can relate to. Little Kangaroo does not want to leave her Mom's pouch because she his carted everywhere and it is safe and warm. Unfortunately she is getting to heavy for Mom to carry around anymore.. Mom takes her to see all the things and freedom she will have if she leaves the pouch. I found the answer to be one that I can relate to as it is usually how it ends up. The illustrations were very appealing and soft. I think this is a great bedtime story and for ages 2 to 5.

This book is so darling! We love the little illustrations and the delightful text that goes along with it. This is a fun book for the littles in your life.

My toddler absolutely enjoys this book. I am especially appreciative of the illustrations, which are vibrant and eye catching. This story about letting go is gentle and sweet. I will look for other titles by Guido van Genechten.

Not-so-little Roo doesn’t want to leave Mom’s pouch, where it’s warm and she gets fed and doesn’t have to do her own jumping. Mom tries to convince her that there’s so much beauty in the world, but she’s not interested. The art shows them in all kinds of places—forests, deserts—and they even share an ecosystem with elephants, whom Little Roo calls stupid. Birds, butterflies, monkeys, none of them get her attention until at the end she finds something that’s fun to do. . . outside.
The dedication states “For all the little ones who will let go of their moms (and for all the moms who manage to let go of their little ones)” and that pretty much says it all.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

Mother Kangaroo is exhausted carrying Little Kangaroo everywhere, because she is already big for her pouch. But Little Kangaroo doesn't understand why she should want to go somewhere else than comfy, warm, dry, quiet, safe and well known Mother's pouch. It will take a new friend to encourage Little Kangaroo to try the wide world.

I loved the illustrations of this book, colorful and bright. The loving characters tell the reader a coming to age story for little ones. I plan to buy a copy of this book as soon it is published. I have a Little Kangaroo here who could do a good use of it...

Little Kangaroo does not want to leave the comfort of her mom's pouch. Even after her mom shows her all of the fun she could have out in the world. Maybe what she needs is a friend?

This is a cute picture book, teaching children that sometimes it is time to try new things on their own.

The book is cute enough, but it depicts a strange assortment of animals together. It features a momma kangaroo and her baby on the plains and in the jungle alongside elephants, monkeys, camels, and giraffes. Australia, kangaroos' natural habitat, is filled with interesting animals; why were the kangaroos depicted with animals they would never naturally encounter in the wild?

I thought the graphics were perfect with the story because it really helped bring the words to life. The story made sense, had a good plotline and overarching theme. I liked the dialogue because even though this is a story about animals the phrases and sentence structure used made sense and sounded realistic. As a parent I could emphasize with the idea of trying to get your kid ready to embrace the world and that underlying frustration when nothing seems to work. You don't give up and eventually you'll hit upon just the right thing that gets them to jump out and embrace life. My youngest daughter with Autism read this story with me; she loved the animals and the pictures. When the word "stupid" was used, we've taught her not to use that word as it's been used against her as a form of bullying, so she said the kangaroos were going to have to go into timeout and she was so cute about it I had to laugh. Overall it's definitely something I'd recommend to my fellow parents because it's just a sweet book.

Separating from your mom can be difficult and Little Kangaroo is all too comfortable in her mother's pouch. That pouch has everything she needs. It's warm. It's safe. It has milk. And try as much as she can, Mother Kangaroo simply cannot get Little Kangaroo out.

Little Kangaroo is a great story about separation anxiety and gently letting go. A fun and helpful read for young kids.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
Little Kangaroo is very happy to stay in his mothers pouch. It's warm and he gets milk there. Momma Kangaroo is exhausted each day from carrying Baby Kangaroo in her pouch and thinks that he should see the world outside her pouch. She tries to show him how the other animal babies are out playing with their families and friends but Baby Kangaroo isn't interested, until another baby kangaroo hops by and asks him to play with him. Out Baby Kangaroo goes.

A lovely story about both children growing up, and parents preparing to let them go.
Such beautiful, detailed illustrations.

This adorable book tells it like it is. Poor Mother Kangaroo is tired of lugging her joey around all day. Her baby daughter is growing fast and getting heavier and heavier so Mommy decides it's time for her little one to make a jump out into the real world and be more independent.

You'd think that her baby would be eager to flee the cramped quarters of her Mother's pouch and be excited to discover all the magnificent things in the world around her. Quite the contrary... baby loves the safety, warmth and security of being close and snuggling up to her mommy. The sound of her mother's tummy brings comfort and happiness to her little heart. It trumps any extraneous sounds found out in the wild.

Mother Kangaroo, try as she may to introduce her little one to the outside world with all its activity and diverse animals, cannot convince her baby to exit and engage in some new-found freedom.

Then a remarkable thing happens that completely changes her joey's mind once and for all. With great eagerness and happiness baby hops right out of her warm nest (all on her own I might add) and takes off across the plains never looking back. I wonder what occurred to cause that sudden turnaround? It must have been something very special. Can you perhaps guess what?

This coming of age story is about separation anxiety. It is...

"A splendid picture book about letting go in a loving way."

I am so buying a few copies of this book for friends with little kids! Sooo Cute! And the illustrations are so fitting! May also get a couple of copies for grown children that won't move out...! Great book! Kudos to Guido van Genechten on a marvelous story!

A heartwarming story, good for bedtime. There's a cycle in life we couldn't resist. Once we're in our comfort zone, then, we're out, then we stay and it become our new comfort zone and repeat. :)

This entire book is an allegory for getting a child to step away from their parent and explore on their own. Little Joey does not want to leave the warm home of his mama’s pouch, until someone else comes along to say, “hey see the world out here”. Not a bad story, and it has nice illustrations.

Added goodreads
Added Litsy

I thought this was a cute read for young ones. It had some funny parts. The mom would encourage him to come and see something like butterflies or monkeys and he would rather not :) Until one day… My girls were giggling through it.

I like the concept of the story - a baby kangaroo who is afraid to stray too far from home and her mother but eventually makes a friend who helps her to learn that there is a lot of fun to be had in the world. Unfortunately, the writing was lacking. I was confused as to why none of the other animals in the book were native to Australia (as kangaroos are) since Australia has so many wonderful animals! Five stars for the wonderful illustrations.

Cute story about a mother kangaroo trying to encourage her kid to jump out and enjoy the world. They visit lots of different animals in their environment but Little Kangaroo wants to stay warm and close to mom, until she meets another kid just like herself. Colorful illustrations and fun action.

This is a cute book about separation anxiety told using animals, in this case a mom and baby Kangaroo. In the story Little kangaroo is getting too big to live in her Mama's pouch but she is afraid to leave it. She only feels safe when she is her mama's pouch, eventually she meets another young kangaroo, leaves the pouch and hops off with her new friend so it has a happy ending. The idea is good but the story is mixed up as they have monkey, elephants, parrots and other animals that don't live in Australia in the book, it's not clear if they have gone on a journey or how they fit in and it could be a bit confusing as they seem to live in Africa! Other than that is good and I enjoyed the illustrations - 4 stars from me.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

The world is big ... Much, much bigger than Mother Kangaroo's pouch. But Little Kangaroo would rather stay with Mommy, where it's safer, warmer and easier. Mom tries to show Little Kangaroo all that life has to offer. It does no good at first, but then...
A splendid picture book about letting go in a loving way.

This was a nice enough book about letting go - using a kangaroo and her joey as an example.

Pretty illustrations and well written text mad the story good but nothing exceptional. However, having kangaroos in Africa was a bit weird and might be hard to explain to some children who know better...


Paul
ARH