My Grandma Lived in Goologulch

Gooligulch is ""no where much near anywhere,'' but Grandma put the area on the map, for she is more famous that it is. Why? She has been known to ride atop a kangaroo or ``in a two-wheel gig/ A wombat at the bit,'' and she has tamed animals (talking to them, inviting them into her home for entertainment, or traveling with them). Grandma was last seen flying on a pelican's beak to the seashore, riding a blow-up horse into the foaming sea and being carried away by the tide. Base provides readers with one of the best introductions to the fauna of the Australian bush. A myriad of exotic animals participate in the frolic of the story alongside the enterprising Grandma. Although his bestselling extravaganza Animalia won Base areputation for pictorial skill, this, on the whole, is a better book; there is as much wit and humor in the rhyming text as there is mastery and opulence in the illustrations. All ages. (January)