MAXIE ROO IS JUST LIKE YOU!
by Kelly Ryner written and illustrated by Kelly Ryner
Ryner’s debut picture book explores the daily life of a young kangaroo in Australia’s beautiful bush setting.
Maxie Roo is an Eastern Grey kangaroo. He rests beneath a distinctive, yellow-blossomed golden wattle tree, digs with his claws, munches on flowers, and goes bounding amid the rosellas, galahs, and cockatoos, jumping so high that he feels like he’s flying among the birds. Maxie’s best friend is another young kangaroo named Indie. One day, Indie spots a fox and hops away in fright. She and Maxie are separated, and for a while they become lost in the bush. Relieved to find each other again, they make their way back down to the pasture, where a “mob” of kangaroos has gathered in the setting sun. Maxie’s mother hugs him tight. The author narrates in gentle verses, their uncomplicated meter capturing something of a kangaroo’s hopping gait: “The pair made a plan. / Their steps they retraced. / Along the cool creek, / they hopped in great haste.” The joeys’ explorations provide a safe adventure for young readers, and Ryner’s delightful, double-page watercolor illustrations bring the Australian outback to vivid life, including the subdued landscapes and stately gum trees, the bursts of color in the forms of birds and flowers, and the young roos themselves, full of soft-eyed wonder. The book concludes with a two-page addendum relating facts about Australian flora and fauna, wildlife sanctuaries, and the real-life Maxie and Indie.
A tender, gorgeously illustrated escape into nature.