cover image Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?

Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?

Eric Carle. HarperCollins Publishers, $16.99 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-06-028768-9

""YES! A kangaroo has a mother. Just like you and me,"" responds Carle to the query posed by the title of his latest collage-filled book. Ten additional, identically phrased questions and answers follow, each centered on a different animal, including the lion, penguin, swan, bear, elephant and monkey. This limited, singsong text may make reading aloud repetitious, but Carle's collages are as vibrant and refreshing as ever. Innovative textures, quirky perspectives and glowing, jewel tones mark these stylized images of affectionate animal mothers and their endearing young. The final query (""And do animal mothers love their babies?"") breaks the narrative pattern, though the rejoinder is just as predictable: ""YES! YES! Of course they do. Animal mothers love their babies, just as yours loves you."" Though this will likely not be the perennial favorite among Carle's creations, it has an appealing twinkle. At book's end is a roundup of the specific names of each animal baby, its parents and group name (e.g., for sheep: the baby is a lamb, a ewe and ram are its parents, a group is a flock). Ages 3-6. (Jan.)