Product Description
The monkey narrator in this humorous picture book gaurantees that he can READ YOUR MIND. What begins as a simple request to imagine the most spectacular thing in history turns into the story of a roller-skating, bubble-blowing purple kangaroo searching for his dear friend Ernesto on the moon. So by the time you finish this book, there's no chance you will be thinking of anything BUT the purple kangaroo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Reminscent of Mo Willems but still unique
I loved this book. I see it as a good fit for kids 5 and up. It has that talking to the reader think Mo Willems does, very lively and inventively laid out illustrations and streams of words that are simply a blast to read out loud. Brief synopsis: A fast talking monkey converts a lemonade stand to a mind reader's booth and proceeds to read the reader's mind. What the reader is supposedly thinking about invovles a purple kangaroo searching for his long lost chinchilla friend "Senor Ernesto de Pantalones". Clever, animated, tongue-twisting fun. ... Read more

Product Description
As thunder rumbles through the air and the sky turn dark, a young kangaroo and his family prepare for the coming storm. Suddenly, a bolt of lightening strikes a gum tree! A fire has started and Kangaroo is separated from his family. Will he be able to find them? ... Read more

Product Description
Kevin is a quiet boy. He lives in a quiet house, on a quiet street, in a quiet town. Nothing exciting ever happens to him . . . until Cynthia the Kangaroo hops into his life. Billed as the Mistress of 1,000 Disguises, Cynthia has escaped from the circus to follow her true calling as a comic. But she has her paws full staying one jump ahead of the Twisty Lady and the Strongman, who want bring her back to the circus. Hiding out in Kevin's bedroom, Cynthia becomes convinced that someone is stealing Kevin's parents' inventions. She dons disguise after disguise and keeps Kevin smiling at her jokes, as the two of them set out to ambush the culprit. ... Read more

Product Description
Joey The KangarooJoey The Kangaroo is part of the "An Adventure In Exercise" series by Len Saunders. Read this children's storybook with your children, and watch the fun and excitement that occurs with each page.These books motivate children to read and exercise simultaneously. The book serves 6 main purposes:To make reading fun for childrenTo encourage children to read To make exercise fun for children To encourage children to exerciseTo teach the children number recognitionTo make learning numbers fun Children need motivational ways to get active. Many of them spend countless hours involved in technology instead of activity. The "An Adventure In Exercise" series was designed to motivate young children (ages 2-7) to get off the couch and exercise. Studies have shown that proper health habits start at a young age. Research has also shown that many overweight children become overweight adults. ... Read more

Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Features vocabulary-rich sentences and questions that correspond directly to large, full-color photos. Includes maps of habitats, body diagrams, and more. Supports National Science Education Standards. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Enjoyable, but flawed
My 5-year-old daughter enjoyed reading this book, and learned some new things about kangaroos. For a book this size, it covers a fairly broad range of kangaroo topics, and the photographs illustrate the information well.

It was a good thing that she read it out loud instead of reading it to herself, or I might not have noticed that it contains a significant factual error. The book claims that baby kangaroos, and the babies of all marsupials, are born in their mothers' pouches. Since I was right there, we were able to discuss this inaccuracy right away and view a video clip showing the actual process by which baby kangaroos get to their mothers' pouches.

... Read more

Product Description
In the last novel written before his death in 1993, one of Japan's most distinguished novelists proffered a surreal vision of Japanese society that manages to be simultaneously fearful and jarringly funny. The narrator of Kangaroo Notebook wakes on morning to discover that his legs are growing radish sprouts, an ailment that repulses his doctor but provides the patient with the unusual ability to snack on himself. In short order, Kobo Abe's unraveling protagonist finds himself hurtling in a hospital bed to the very shores of hell. Abe has assembled a cast of oddities into a coherent novel, one imbued with unexpected meaning. Translated from the Japanese by Maryellen Toman Mori. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

It's an acid trip.
Throughout the whole thing, it feels like reality is being covered by a layer of warped glass. The two exceptions are the clinic waiting room near the beginning, and the hospital near the end, which feel out of place amongst all the surreal imagery. Maybe there's some kind of underlying message in the fact that the two most normal scenes take place in institutions of wellness. But this trip is way too far out for me to figure out something like that. A compelling curiosity rather than serious literature.

Marsupials, radishes, and hospital beds...
A man wakes up one morning with radish sprouts growing out of his shins. Just the day before, the wise-aleck dropped a note in the suggestion box at work proposing the manufacture of a new product: kangaroo notebooks. Is there a connection?

In the dreamy, surreal world depicted by Kobo Abe, it's not so much that things are connected as that they develop out of each other like the unexpected pattern of a rapidly mutating crystal. Seeking medical attention at a strange urology/dermatology clinic, the narrator of *Kangaroo Notebook* is wheeled into a makeshift operating room only to wake up in a world that may all be a post-op hallucination or--well, it's left up to you decide what else it could possibly be.

In the meantime, the narrator recounts his mock-heroic adventures through a hellish landscape of ghosts, goblin children, ghoulish invalids, and, maybe most peculiarly of all, an American biker. It's like a funhouse ride through an updated Dante's Inferno aboard the self-propelled hospital bed upon which the narrator travels from one bizarre episode to another. What coherence there is to this absurd tragicomedy is strictly of the sort you feel within a complex dream. There's no rhyme or reason to any of it--and, yet, somehow it's rich with the intimations of deep levels of meaning.

It's not particularly hard to write a text like *Kangaroo Notebook.* But it's very hard to do it well. Often such narratives are rambling, arbitrary, and completely dependent on an ever escalating series of shocks--violence, sexual, scatological. All these elements are present in *Kangaroo Notebook,* but Abe manages to imbue it with the `artless' art of a genuine dream--symbolic, transgressive, thematic, enigmatic--and he implants a subtle narrative drive that pushes this comic, yet ultimately disturbing tale forward to its logically illogical and haunting conclusion. *Kangaroo Notebook* is one of the better examples Ive yet come across of a style of wild absurdism that can too often read like an exercise in automatic writing.

A mind-bending novel, Abe's last, and filled with paradox, acute anxiety, and intimations of mortality, *Kangaroo Notebook* is an odd--and yet oddly fitting--final testament from one of the 20th century's more original literary voices.

Bizarre
I've enjoyed several of Abe novels, so I decided to try this one.I didn't enjoy it as much as I had his other novels.First of all, you're never really sure if it is a story about someone's real bizarre experience, or if it is a trip through the underworld.At certain points, it's really strange, but then at other points, it is very mundane.Perhaps it is a journey through the underworld, as the underlying theme is death.It explores how to approach the end when it comes.

If you're interested in Abe, then you might want to read this, but if you haven't read Abe before, I recommend trying some of his other books.

Kangaroo Notebook
Kangaroo Notebook is a darkly surreal novel, at turns bizarre and ridiculous then just as easily becomes normal and calm. While lacking a sense of continuity through a few odd narrative choices, Kangaroo Notebook remains an interesting experiment into imagination.

One day, our nameless narrator wakes to find that he has radish sprouts growing from his knees. Not particularly alarmed at this, he soon discover to his pleasure that they are edible and quite tasty. A doctor's appointment lands him in the hospital where he is knocked out with drugs. From there, using his trusty Atlas bed as a transportation device, we are led through bizarre scene after bizarre scene, from hairy American martial arts experts to the souls of aborted children who perform plays on the banks of the river Sai for charity.

The narrator is on one hand an interesting fellow - he IS growing radish sprouts from his knees, after all - and his adventures are quite entertaining, but there is a lack within him. He show no great curiosity as to why everything is happening to him, nor does he really seem interested in getting everything back to normal. He is content to go with the flow, and throughout the novel, he acts more as a spectator than an actual character. Almost, but not quite, he is an omniscient narrator, in the sense that his voice does nothing more than record what is happening. Not quite though, because he does participate in a few interesting conversations along the way. Unfortunately, his lack of personality is a definite crutch.

The nameless narrator ricochets from bizarre sequence to stunningly normal locale, then back to bizarre with a speed that is at time dizzying. Often, scene changes are precipitated by the narrator being knocked unconscious, a fairly weak literary device that is used far too often here. The end sequence is the most bizarre of them all, juxtaposing the lengthy normal hospital scene that proceeds it.

The novel ended, to my mind, abruptly and without closure. There is a cryptic message at the end - which, I'll admit, I was expecting something of the sort - but I couldn't really decipher it at first. But, after thinking about the novel for a few hours after I had finished, I realised that the ending was, in fact, perfect.

To my mind, appreciation of this book comes down to a personal choice. If you enjoy bizarre series of events that don't seem to be going anywhere but suddenly illuminate at the end, then by all means read it. If however, you don't like barely connected scenes with a personality-less narrator, steer clear.

Inventive, intriquing, ambiguous reading
Kangaroo Notebook is the last book written by Kobo Abe; in many ways, itis a reflection on the approach of death, on being an outsider, and,perhaps, on outsider as a kind of death."Perhaps" because thisbook is written in a very ambiguous style that allows, even encourages,readers to find different interrelationships between the parts.

Thenarrator begins the story at his suggestion in his workplace being selectedas the best - his suggestion, originally a joke, was a product, a kangaroonotebook.This leads to the proposition that marsupials are outcasts - themammal version of each species being more viable than the marsupialcounterpart. Within this context, the narrator notes that his shins aresprouting radishes.

Seeking treatment at a dermatologist is the beginningof a series of occurrences - real, dream, illusion, post-anesthetiaconfusion?This are absolutely delightful, humorous events - a bedtraveling in the city through the narrator's mental efforts, of ahell-based sulfur springs treatment, of child demons, of dead mothers incabbage fields, of an American graduate student studying fatal accidents,of euthansia ...

This astounding romp is a serious consideration ofdeath, our beliefs regarding death (the limbo children) and ofsuicide/murder/euthansia/accident. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Little Animal Series!
This is a cute story in a set of 8 books called the Animal Storybooks by Rebecca Johnson.It is a simple story about a kangaroos who are caught ina forest fire and how they escape.The use of live photography is just wonderful.My children really enjoy reading these books over and over again ... Read more

Product Description
Two classic books by Judy Blume:

Freckle Juice
Nicky has freckles -- they cover his face, his ears, and the whole back of his neck. Sitting behind him in class, Andrew once counted eighty-six of them, and that was just a start! If Andrew had freckles like Nicky, his mother would never know if his neck was dirty.

One day after school, Andrew works up enough courage to ask Nicky where he got his freckles. When know-it-all Sharon overhears, she offers Andrew her secret freckle juice recipe -- for fifty cents. It's a lot of money, but Andrew is desperate. At home he carefully mixes the strange combination of ingredients. Then the unexpected happens...


The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo
Lately second-grader Freddy Dissel has that left-out kind of feeling. Life can be lonely when you're the middle kid in the family and you feel like "the peanut butter part of a sandwich," squeezed between an older brother and a little sister. But now for the first time it's Freddy's chance to show everyone how special he is and, most of a all, prove it to himself! ... Read more

Product Description
A curious puppy leads the reader to a number of animal babies in search of the name for a baby kangaroo. Includes notes on animal mothers and various infant animals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Unresolved plot aggravates this adult reader
So, I'm the proud parent of a precocious two-year-old, and having checked this book out from the library, have to read it at least three times in row.While the art work is unique (fabric art), the story is fatally flawed.This review contains spoilers, so don't continue if you don't want to know the ending to this 32 page book.

The book begins by having a puppy ask a baby kangaroo his name.The kangaroo refuses to answer, and so the puppy has to ask a bunch of other baby animals if they know the kangaroo's name.Finally he asks the kangaroo's mother the name of the baby kangaroo.She replies "My baby kangaroo is... a joey!And tell me, little puppy, where's your mom, and who are you?"

The puppy replies "Here she comes to fetch me with my brothers, small and new.Thank you for helping me, Mommy Kangaroo!"

Well, the puppy didn't ask the name of baby kangaroos *in general*, he asked the baby kangaroo's name!And the mother kangaroo asked the name of the puppy, but was ignored!Neither question was answered!

Is this some weird child safety training, to never divulge one's name?

When I read a book, I expect conflict to arise, and to be resolved.No resolution here.One star.

Amazing Illustrations!!
I love Clare Beaton's illustrations!This one follows a little dog asking all sorts of baby animals what a baby kangaroo is called.My kids are always entertained by this book, and I could look at her amazing fabric art for hours!!This is actually not my most favorite book to read aloud, a lot of repetition, but it doesn't deter the kids and they start to say it with me.Try, How Big is a Pig or There's a Billy Goat in the Garden.Those are my favorites!! ... Read more

Product Description
A lavish photo history and intimate look at the career of Bob Keeshan, TV's Captain Kangaroo. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Captain Kangaroo
Excellent book for those of us who grew up with The Captain. The product and the price were both excellent. I was completely happy with both.

A very poignant, well-written autobiography
Has anybody out there ever known somebody well enough who can (pardon the cliche) "tell it like it is"?Well, Bob Keeshan (aka Captain Kangaroo) does JUST THAT in this touching memoir.

It is, without a doubt, one of the BEST autobiographies in years. Mr. Keeshan had such a flair for staying sensitive, straightforward, sincere, and not to mention playful and humorous.A good example is on page 73, when he describes theping-pong ball joke Mr. Moose used to play on him: "Pulling a fast one on the ol' Captain was something that kids loved for more than thirty years.It never got old!"Not a bad one-liner, here, not bad at all.Likewise, Mr. Keeshan, neither did your show, which today, is a bona fide classic.(For those of you out there who think this is old school, guess again.)

It is also with such a drive for such perky optimism that really made the show an American institution.Mr. Keeshanelaborates this on page 136 in the chapter, "The People who Make it Happen" with all the quality talent he assembled: whether it was directors, writers, and even guest celebrities, such as Mike Farrell (MASH), Eli Wallach, and Carol Channing.

Besides, how many people know that among the talent here was Lynn Ahrens, who used to write for "Schoolhouse Rock"?She also wrote the show's last theme song.Anyway, here's how I remember it, with the last few verses:

Colorful, magical,
wonderful WOW!
The Captain is coming,
just look at him now!

Super-sensational,
special, and new!
The Captain is coming
and you're gonna love him,
CAPTAIN KANGAROO!

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, BOB KEESHAN.FROM WHAT YOU'VE WRITTEN HERE IN YOUR BOOK, YOU'RE A WONDERFUL, COMPASSIONATE, CHARISMATIC HUMAN BEING.FOR THAT, YOU NOW REST WITH THE ANGELS, FOR YOU'RE ALSO A REAL GOD-SEND.MAY YOUR LEGACY CONTINUE ON WITH THIS BOOK,AND MAY IT ALWAYS ENLIGHTEN AND INSPIRE THOSE WHO WANT TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS.;)

Finnerty Flynn and His 101 Things
I have not read this book, but I am sure it is wonderful. I am all about Captain Kangaroo and Garfield Goose! I had an album that came with a small book; the album would "ding" when it was time for me to turn the pages. The album was narrated by Bob Keeshun (Captain Kangaroo); the album was called Finnerty Flynn and His 101 Things". I still have the album, but I can not find any information on it online. Does anyone know of this short book being in print, or even recorded on CD in the original album version? Captain Kangaroo would also read this book during his shows, along with Curious George, etc. Does anyone know where I could get DVD of the Captain Kangaroo and Garfield Goose series? Any help would be appreciated!

Words to Crabby Appleton song
A previous reviewer (Jane) asked if anyone knew the words to Crabby Appleton's song.I was surfing the web and found this:
"Tom Terrific was of my favorite segments of Captain Kangaroo.", TVpartier Ricky Waller writes, "I don't know if you have this documented, but the villainous Crabby Appleton sang a song that I will always remember and it went like this : 'My name is Crabby Appleton, I'm rotten to the core
I do a bad deed every day, and sometimes three or four
I can't stand fun for anyone, I think good deeds are sappy, I laugh with glee, it pleases me, when everyone's unhappy!'"

Childhood Revisited
Mornings sitting on the floor in front of the TV eating a bowl of Cheerios and watching the Captain.Bunny Rabbit tricking Mr. Moose with ping pong balls, and tricking the Captain to get his carrots.
Tom Terrific (does anyone know the words to Crabby Appleton's song?)
and the lovable Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Bainter the painter, and waking up Grandfather Clock,I loved them all.This book takes me back to that special part of my childhood.I wondered where The Banana Man was, he wasn't included in the book.Na,na, na, na, na, wow!
This is a wonderful book full of memories. ... Read more

Product Description
As morning comes to Kangaroo Island following a thunderstorm, a mother kangaroo finds her lost baby and a burned eucalyptus tree sprouts buds and becomes a new home for animals. ... Read more

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Product Description
Captain Kangaroo Tells Yesterday's Children How to Nuture Their Own Children ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Kudos for the Captain
In the weird world that passed for our family when I was growing up the wonderful world of Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Greenjeans and Mr. Moose and all the others were a bright spot: a happy, sane, kind distraction. Much thanks to him, Soupy Sales, and animation studios such as Walter Lantz, and Hannah-Barbera, for showing humor and sanity to a kid growing up in what was an otherwise rather cold dangerous andinsane world.

Great book by a great man!
I was fortunate enough to get to hear Bob Keeshan, known to me as Captain Kangaroo, when he came through my town on a book tour promoting this book.In a hall filled to overflowing, he entertained us with stories of his life, his family, his show, and his career after the sad cancellation of Captain Kangaroo.Reading this book is like a walk down Memory Lane.The book reflects his warm and humorous personality and I treasure my copy.As a longtime fan of the show, I wish he was still around so my children could be entertained with his gentle humor and inherent understanding of children rather than the loud, obnoxious, overly lond commercials that pass as children's programming today. ... Read more

Product Description
Australian children's rhyming picture book.

You should have come to this Great Aussie Do.
The Guest list sure read like an Aussie Who's Who.
But best part of all, and I tell you it's true.
Was that kangaroo played his didgeridoo.

Illustrated by Glen Singleton. ... Read more

Product Description

Meet Duck.

Customer Reviews (4)

friendship and adventure
To appreciate Edward Lear's artistic nature in his realm of what today is known as literacy nonsense, one must foretaste the excerpt of his work of art in this book. Edward Lear's nonsensical verses are brought to life by Jane Wattenberg's exotic vibrant collages. She has harmoniously, or at my first glance, un-harmoniously, put together her photographs of Australian kangaroos and male mallard ducks in the local San Francisco Zoo, to recreate Edward Lear's scene of friendship between the bird and the beast.

Duck peeks into her neighbor's lawn. It, indeed looks greener through her telescope. Watching as Kangaroo hops through various terrains and climates, Duck finally is convinced that she has to be on board. She packs, bundles up, and hops on Kangaroo's tail. Together they travel around the world...

On the surface, this book is for ages four through eight. A combination of realistic photographs and vibrant-color collaged background, which goes hand-in-hand with the rhymes and lyrics of the verses, is a feast to both eyes and ears. However, Wattenberg's real treasure is far beyond it. The author's note "About the Art" reveals the details and resources that bring higher appreciation to the older crowds.

Reviewed by: Sophie Masri

The love between Kangaroo and Duck is a match made in heaven, but the stunning collage is what makes this book!
Duck peered through a telescope to catch a glimpse of Kangaroo.He was amazed at how wonderfully he could hop over a herd of sheep, "over the fields and the water too."She looked as if she could fly like the wind.Duck's life in the pond was one big bore and he wanted to get out and see the world."I wish I could hop like you!" he exclaimed to the Kangaroo and begged for a ride on her back.He promised to be quiet as they roamed the land and seas.Kangaroo looked quietly at him as he lay on his side and painted some fungi he had spotted on the forest floor.Duck continued to plead, even as he posed for Kangaroo so he could paint him.Roo was wavering a bit, but would he finally give him a ride?

"Said the Kangaroo to the Duck,
`This requires some little reflection;
Perhaps on the whole it might bring me luck,
And there seems to be one objection,
Which is, if you'll let me speak so bold,
Your feet are unpleasantly wet and cold,
And would probably give me the roo-
Matiz!' (O my achy bones that is)
said the Kangaroo."

The love between Kangaroo and Duck is a match made in heaven, but the stunning collage is what makes this book.Hiding in the pages are details from the artwork of many Naturalists, including John James Audubon, Charles Darwin, and Edward Lear.This book will not only appeal to young children with its rhythmical text and charming story, but will also appeal to the art lover.It is a visual treat and a hide-and-seek adventure for those who think they know their art.Can you spot Audubon's Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca) in these pages?

a feast for the eyes!
Jane Wattenberg has created a feast for the eyes in her new picture book of Edward Lear's nonsense song The Duck and The Kangaroo.Wattenberg uses eye-popping photo-collage techniques to create a vibrant book, where the images truly match Lear's creative folly.

While Lear's verse is fun and silly, the illustrations are what make this book snap, crackle and pop.Wattenberg collages photographs of a real kangaroo and duck into a variety of almost surrealist settings.She adds layer of exotic flora and fauna drawn by 19th century Naturalists, including Lear himself, Charles Darwin, John James Audubon and many others.On top of this are wonderfully quirky touches, like hand-knitted socks shaped to the duck's webbed feet.My favorite aspect of the illustrations are the comically expressive eyes of the duck and the kangaroo.As I understand it, Wattenberg photo-collaged eyes of an owl and a dog to create these oversized, yet realistic eyes.

from a childrens book lover
Wow! It doesn't get much better than this- Jane Wattenberg has done it again -only better this time.
The sumptuous illustrations add much to Lears wonderfully silly rhymes.Take a look yourself, I doubt that you will be disapointed.



... Read more

Product Description
Big Red has never met a hopless Kangaroo in all his born days. He tiries several ingenious ways to make Keith hop. ... Read more

Product Description
The latest title in the Welcome to the Whole World series reveals all there is to know about kangaroos. With outstanding color photographs and intriguing text, children can discover fascinating details about this exotic animal. They can find out how far a kangaroo can jump, why it has a pouch, and how it grows from a tiny joey to a full-grown animal. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Kangar Kangar Kangapoos!
Ever since I visited South Africa, I have loved Kangaroos.I even stepped into a boxing match with a Kangaroo and got beat to a pulp.I spent 2 weeks in a hospital run by nuns.Kangaroos live on the African sub-continent.A short book but fun.An interesting fact is that Kangaroos are related to ostriches and mice and will kick you in the [blank] if threatened. ... Read more

Product Description
This warm and whimsical picture book opens with a little boy eagerly anticipating a trip to the zoo as his mother straps him into his car seat. Like most toddlers, he would rather run free than wear a seat belt, ride in a stroller, hold Mommy's hand, or climb into her backpack. As they pass various animal exhibits, the little boy asks teasing questions, such as "If I were a monkey, would I have to wear a helmet?" Mommy's light-hearted responses reveal, in a bouncy cadence, how animal and human moms alike keep their rambunctious young ones close and safe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

children's books about parental care
I bought this book for a friend who doesn't wear a seat belt.The book is actually about all that parents do to keep their children safe.

Zoo Fun
Cute tale of a mother and son's trip to the zoo. The questions the little inquisitive boy asks lead to learning and discovery about many of the animals at the zoo. The patience the mother shows for the child and the educational lessons provided, makes the book a gem. ... Read more

Product Description
A purple kangaroo with a remarkable talent for sewing becomes famous in her native land and around the world. ... Read more