Polly Hopper's Pouch

Even though ""Polly Hopper was a curious kangaroo,"" and she goes to the library to check out books, she hasn't a clue why she's equipped with a very odd pouch. No other animals in the outback have one, and nothing of use seems to fit in it. ""Her loaves of bread were too wide to fit in it. Her peaches got lost in the bottom,"" writes Bonnett-Rampersaud (My Nose Is Running). An old kangaroo tells her to stop wondering but never explains (""One day you'll know why you have that lovely pouch,"" he says). Sure enough, joey Minny Hopper arrives and fits in the space perfectly, convincing Polly that ""It was a lovely pouch after all."" Debut illustrator Chesak-Liberace's neatly framed, softly hued watercolors exude charming, understated warmth, and she perfectly captures the velvety quality of Polly's fur. But even three-year-olds will think it's odd that a mommy kangaroo doesn't know what a pouch is for, while Polly's ignorance and the elderly kangaroo's elusive words of wisdom may strike grown-up readers (especially women) as paternalistic. Ages 3-6. (Mar.)