CUDDLE CLOSE, LITTLE KOALA

After a day of play with friends, it’s bedtime, but where is Little Koala’s mommy?

Lots of things seem familiar in the forest—is that flash of gray fur her mommy? No, it’s Mommy Wombat, who gives Little Koala a hug, but it’s not the same as Mommy Koala’s hugs. Is that a snatch of her mommy’s bedtime stories? No, it’s Mommy Platypus, who snuggles Little Koala close as she continues the story she was telling her babies. Similarly, the lullaby she hears isn’t her mommy’s; it’s Mommy Emu’s. And though kind in both action and in appearance on the page, these mothers aren’t her own. Suddenly, she hears a familiar voice calling her name: It’s Mommy Koala, and she has the “most perfect koala cuddle ever.” After hearing about all the ways the other mommies were like Little Koala’s mommy, readers may feel let down that Little Koala doesn’t get a story or a lullaby from her own mother. Still, it’s a mostly satisfying ending to an overall gentle look at being lost—indeed, Little Koala looks worried about her situation on only one spread, otherwise soaking in the love from the other Australian fauna. Readers who find themselves in similar situations will learn little from Little Koala’s experience other than to find another mother with children for help. The black type on increasingly dark backgrounds as night falls becomes difficult to discern.

Sweet but unsubstantial.