”You’re the craziest looking thing I’ve ever seen,” said Blue-Tongued Skink. “What are you supposed to be?” A skink, Brushtail Possum, Kookaburra and several Australian animals all help a lost and lonely baby platypus find his identity. Through comparisons of their body parts we learn about adaptations but young readers will learn how to solve the riddle of the baby’s identity in Kersplatypus by Susan K. Mitchell.

He learns what he isn’t. The Brushtail Possum thought the claws on the tips of his toes meant he lived in a tree. He couldn’t climb the tree but instead went Kersplat!

Kookaburra thought perhaps the webbed feet and scoopy duck bill meant he could fly. So they went to a large rock and he showed him how to flap and fly. But all he did was go Kersplat.

Wallaby determined that Platypus's thick, powerful tail meant he probably also lived on the ground. They both tried sitting and bouncing on their tails. Platypus tried, but went Kersplat and then he cried, feeling pretty hopeless.

Old Bandicoot came along (a wise old animal) and he said, “I’ve heard of a creature like this: a furry body, webbed feet, and a scoopy duck bill. Pretty sure it’s call a Platypus but sorry, I can’t tell you where he belongs.”

This is a delightful story about a Platypus who makes new friends in the Australian outback. They lovingly and jokingly attempt to help him find his identity as well as were he belongs. This is a baby platypus in need of his mother but where is she?

Repetition of language and body functions introduces first graders to animals of Australia. This tells a story of friendship and it ends with a predictably happy ending. Children will enjoy the opportunity to predict and say “Kersplat, he fell flat” and will doubly enjoy saying Kersplash Kersplat.

Sylvan Dell Publishing continues to produce science books for young audiences that are not only excellent stories but that provide educational content. In Kersplatypus, author Susan K. Mitchell helps children observe differences in fur, feet, tails, and bills while teaching about their uses. She also introduces young readers to some animals found living in Australia. In telling this story she explores fun words that help with language: splish, splash, waddled, commotion, rumbling, tumbling, and much more. This is a fun way for young readers to stretch their vocabulary. She tells this heart-warming story with an “Aussie accent”, which creates additional language fun.

Sylvan Dell concludes this book with 4 ½ pages of lessons in their For Creative Minds section. Included are some platypus fun facts, an outback animal adaptation activity, a simple animal classification, and some open-ended questions about bullies and friends. Visit www.sylvandellpublishing.com and look up teaching activities for this book. They have a 29-page document with before and after questions, language arts activities, science lessons (classifying, adaptations, life cycles, a day in the life of…, and more), math, research, geography and character (caring about others). Another resource from Sylvan Dell is their learning links, which provides valuable web resources on each of the animals mentioned in this tale as well as Australian habitats.

Susan K. Mitchell has written two other picture books and more than 14 chapter books. Her idea came from the fun use of “kersplat” when her own child fell flat. She collaborated with illustrator Sherry Rogers who claims she uses a lot of paper, pencils, and erasers. She scans her illustrations into her computer where she paints using photoshop. Visit her website to learn more about her process (www.sherry-rogers.com). She provides pages with images from her books that can be downloaded and then colored by children. Her animals are friendly, charming, and young children will adore them. While reading this I wondered if they would create a stuffed platypus to accompany this book--wonder no more, they did and this and other animals from their books are available as separate purchases.

What I Like! In particular, the platypus's tenacity and animal's concern both model desirable character and citizenship behaviors. The observations introduce readers to adaptations and functions of certain body parts. This helps with predicting. The repetition guides language development. Meeting animals from another part of the world expands global awareness. The art is charming and the characters are precious. Children will love the way the skink laughs. Some of the language might be too advanced for preschool, but the language fun, pictures, and story will appeal to some four year olds. As a science-based picturebook for kindergarten and first grade, this entertaining book gets five stars from me.

My special thanks to Sylvan Dell Publishing for allowing me the opportunity to provide an honest review of this book.


Recommended: Yes