Big Red Kangaroo Book Review

Have you entered my current giveaway for a wooden watch?

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

 We are so excited to share this fun book with you today. Big Red Kangaroo by Claire Saxby is a wonderful book about red kangaroos. It was released last week. In similar fashion to Grandma Elephant's In Charge (which I reviewed last month), Big Red Kangaroo follows a dominant male red kangaroo with his mob but also gives facts about red kangaroos in side notes. The dominant male kangaroo is responsible for the safety and livelihood of its mob which is made up of females and joeys (baby kangaroos). Young male adult kangaroos will challenge the dominant male for the mob. The dominant male will have to fight off or scare off the challengers. He also has to help find the safe places for the mob to eat and rest during the hot sunny days. It is so interesting to learn about the harsh climates these animals live in. 

Hazel at Halloween 2014

Now I will admit we have always had a bit of a love of kangaroos. I had a stuffed kangaroo and joey growing up. I think Hazel's fascination with them comes form having a pen pal in Australia (Kelly's over at Happy Whimsical Heart son). Since they became penpals at a young age we have spent time learning am bit about Australia. And of course she loves the Australia book we reviewed recently from Candlewick Press. 

We have had a few kangaroo experiences and crafts over the last few years. Hazel chose the kangaroo costume when we reviewed the Kigs Kirugumis costume. She wore it this year for Halloween as well as to many places throughout the year. She told me she picked it because it came with the joey. Of course for Halloween she dressed Ducky as the joey.

 We made the toilet paper roll kangaroo to go with The Big Wide Mouth Frog story a couple of years ago. Seeing a kangaroo with a koala bear reminds me of the cutest picture I have of Hazel hugging my friend's then 13-month-old on Halloween. He was a koala and she was the kangaroo. Love it!! 

 I made a felt kangaroo for her zoo mat which was a Christmas gift in 2012. I apparently did not take a good picture of the kangaroo. She also "spotted" a kangaroo in our backyard when she was playing zoo train on her swing set. Love her imagination!! We have seen a kangaroo at the zoo as well. 

 For a fun craft to go with the Big Red Kangaroo, we used Diddily Dee Dot's Dreamland for Children Everywhere's pattern for a kangaroo bag and made a quick one. We did not sew the pouch on, but used glue on everything. I think I would sew if I was going to make it into a bag/pouch necklace for Hazel. She now wants to make a pouch and kangaroo mask (like our forest masks for the other day). 

Needless to say we love Big Red Kangaroo!! I love how it tells a story with the side facts that go along with the story. I hope you will check it out. 

For some more kangaroo posts check out:

• K Is for Kissing a Cool Kangaroo 
• Luke's Beach Day 
• The ABC's of Australian Animals