A kangaroo hops into a farmyard, and gets a hostile reception—that is, at first. McGillicuddy tries, but can’t get the hang of giving milk like the cow, or wool like the sheep, or eggs like the hen, and so is scorned—but McGillicuddy can jump and kick, skills that come in very handy when a hungry fox strolls through the gate. Porter spoils Edwards’s rhythmic, non-gender-specific text by giving McGillicuddy a pouch, but kangaroo and mates are expressively posed, and, lugging a camp stove and picnic gear as he enters, the fox makes an appropriately menacing but faintly silly figure. The encounter isn’t as suspenseful as Mem Fox’s Hattie and the Fox (1987), but younger readers and listeners should get the point that everyone has different talents. (Picture book. 5-7)
