CRUMBLE! CRUMBLE!

This sturdy book designed for toddlers comes with an equally sturdy story about a young kangaroo that skips the most important meal of the day and is haunted by the absence of food in her belly. Come morning, Little Roo has one thing on her mind: “She wanted to go out to play.” She forsakes her kangaflakes and her toast and honey. Shortly thereafter, she hears an ominous “Grumble! Rumble!” Mistaking the sounds as the grumblings of a monster, Little Roo runs to tell her friends. But Alligator is too busy eating grapes, and Snake is too busy munching an apple, and Elephant is chomping away on peanuts. So it goes with all of Little Roo’s friends: They’re all having good breakfasts, and all Little Roo has are the fantods. At home, Little Roo’s mother makes the connection between the belly and the growls. Banishing the monsters is as easy as eating breakfast. Wouldn’t it be nice if they were all so easily dismissed? The simple narrative and repetitive text can’t be said to possess incantatory qualities, but they do convey an instant familiarity, warmth, and mellow humor, as do Dodds’s (Grandpa Bud, 1993) earth-toned, cartoon illustrations. (Picture book. 1-4)