Country Boy, City Girl
Debbie Glade reviews this cute book, with a setting Down Under.
Australia is the setting for this charming book, written by Yvonne Morrison. Town Possum Outback Possum ($16.99, Little Hare Books, ages 3 and up) is a story about two cousins who live very different lives. One day, Jessie comes from the city to surprise Jacko in the country. But before long, Jessie gets bored with the lack of exciting things to do and see in the outback, and she talks Jacko into coming back to the city with him for a while. Naturally there’s a lot more commotion there, so how do you suppose laid-back Jacko responds to that?
I enjoyed the fact that the two main characters are possums, and the artist, Heath McKenzie, does a great job with the colorful illustrations. After all, possums are adorable – that is unless they are living in your attic! What I like about this story is that it shows children contrasting lifestyles, and it teaches them about being flexible and how important it is to be able to adapt to new environments. Even more importantly, it teaches them that “there’s no place like home!”