Matilda is an exuberant little kangaroo who dances all day long, from the moment she hops out of bed straight through to bedtime, and even into the night in her dreams. The rhyming text follows Matilda through her day, dancing at home and around her town and then back home to dance through dinner. The amusing text sections are interspersed with a repeated refrain that gets rather annoying (“dance and dance and dance . . . ”), but perhaps that is to indicate that Matilda’s endless twirls and kicks might drive her parents slightly mad. Murphy’s bouncy illustrations add considerable charm to the story with expressive kangaroo faces and small, humorous details for readers to discover. A little kookaburra bird appears on most pages, and Matilda is tucked into bed with her toy bear—a koala bear, of course. (Picture book. 3-8)
