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Kersplatypus |
Reviews & Endorsements Publishers Weekly - February 2008 This labored story centers on a small, furry, web-footed creature with a “scoopy duck bill” who appears on the Australian outback after heavy rains without knowing how he got there. He is a novelty to the other animals, one of whom, a blue-tongued skink, snidely comments, “You’re the craziest looking thing I’ve ever seen.... What are you supposed to be?” While attempting to discover where he belongs—in a tree, in the air, on the ground—the lost animal repeatedly falls (“kersplat!”). An old bandicoot finally identifies him as a platypus and the skink derisively dubs him “Kersplatypus.” Eventually Platypus feels drawn to the river’s edge and, “before you could say ‘Waltzing Matilda,’ ” jumps into the water and “flipped and flopped and felt right at home.” The bullying skink gets his comeuppance, falling on a slippery rock with a “kersplash!” Rogers’s mixed-media art offers detailed renderings of Australian species, but also anthropomorphizes them: the bandicoot walks with a cane, a possum wears a flower behind her ear, etc. Back matter introduces a schoolroom flavor, with some educational activities and discussion starters (“Has anyone ever made fun of you? Did you like it? What did you do?”). Ages 3-7. (Feb.)
The Midwest Book Review "Children's Bookwatch" - February 2008 Kersplatypus is a children's picturebook about a young platypus who doesn't know where he belongs. Other Australian wildlife try to introduce him to climbing trees, flying the skies, or bounding along the ground, but the platypus just doesn't take to it. At last he discovers his natural home -- in the water with his beloved mother. Additional pages of fun facts about the platypus and other animals native to Australia round out this delightful, enthusiastic, and educational picturebook.
Armchair Interviews - January 2008 Sylvan Dell Publishing publishes the best in children’s literature. Their books are entertaining, tell a grand story, educate children (and adults) and are oh so appealing to the eye with their fun, quirky, colorful and delightful illustrations. Kersplatypus is the exciting adventure of a strange little creature that suddenly appears after the big rains in Australia. The animals wonder what ‘he’ is (even the little creature doesn’t know what ‘he’ is). But the animals do know he has fur, a tail, feet and a duck-like bill. With the clues they have, the animals band together to help the little creature discover who he is and where he belongs. Sometimes good friends, tenacity and spirit go a long, long way in finding the answers to the questions that don’t seem to have answers. I love Kersplatypus. He’s the cutest little platypus. And I love the cozy, caring feel of the story. The illustrations add tremendously to the flavor of the story and are so beautiful that children and adults will be drawn to them. I also love that the book contains some fun facts about the platypus–and that there are activities for the children. This book is also a great gift to give those special little ones in your life. I suspect the kids will wear out the book from use. It’s that good. Armchair Interviews says: Kersplatypus is a must have!
CLCD - March 2008 This delightful tale is sure to be a winner with young readers and listeners. In the tale, Brushtail Possum, Kookaburra, Blue-Tongued Skink, and Wallaby discover an unusual, lovable-looking, but lost young creature in their habitat. The tale progresses in an easy-to-follow manner with each animal trying to place the creature in its own natural setting. The misplaced creature steals their hearts as they attempt to help it find where it does belong. Along the way, it takes some falls when attempting to climb a tree like Possum, fly like Kookaburra, and jump like Wallaby. The Blue-Tongued Skink rolls with laughter during each failed attempt and it names the creature a Kersplatypus because of all the “Kersplats” it experiences. Finally when Old Bandicoot happens along, he is able to tag the creature correctly as a Platypus and the helpful friends successfully get the creature to the river where it gracefully swims, splashes, and finds its mother. In addition to being a fun story, the book presents excellent material about Australia by showing the habitats of Australian animals and introducing Australian terms like “walkabout” and “Waltzing Matilda.” Detailed, interesting, and humorous illustrations add to the text. Well-written end material offers platypus facts, an adaptation activity, a sorting/classification exercise, and a discussion page about being a bully or friend. Add this unique book to pre-school and elementary grade classrooms. It can supplement geography and social lessons as well as lessons on drawing conclusions from facts that are presented. BIBLIO: 2008, Sylvan Dell, Ages 3 to 7, $16.95. - Nancy Attebury ”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. I’m just wondering if they will create a stuffed platypus to accompany this book. 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. Down under, in Australia, there is a creature who doesn’t know who he is or where he belongs. His friends, Bushtail Possum, Wallaby, Blue-Tongued Skink, and Kookaburra kindly try to help him, but he just keeps falling “KERSPLAT!” Old Bandicoot says he’s a Platypus, but where does he belong? Young readers will enjoy following Kersplatypus’ adventures as he searches the Australian landscape for his identity. Author Susan K. Mitchell has brought some of the animals and the geography of Australia alive for children in a most delightful way. The illustrations by Sherry Rogers highlight the story, plus give an extra depth and richness, so that you feel as if your are right there with the animals. The story is not only fun to read, but also informative. The activities in the back give children and classrooms added fun in animal recognition and geography. This book is highly recommended for children ages 3-7. -Judith Nasse
Do you ever feel like you’re just falling flat on your face and can’t quite get it all together? I didn’t realize I had planned a slow cooker recipe for supper until 4 pm - KERSPLAT! I left the snacks for preschool at home on the dryer and had to go back and get them - KERSPLAT! I took my youngest son to the wrong Tae Kwon Do class - KERSPLAT! And that was just Monday! So I can completely relate to the Platypus in the book, , by Susan K. Mitchell. This was one of the books I received from Sylvan Dell Publishing to review, and it is certainly as enjoyable as the other book they sent me. The illustrations by Sherry Rogers are so endearing and bring the personalities of each animal to life. The story begins when an unidentified creature is discovered by several animals found in Australia. None of the other animals seem to know what this creature is or where it belongs, but they do try to help the little lost creature figure out where he belongs - my children quickly decided that the Wallaby was the nicest animal and the Blue-Tongued Skink was the meanest. As each animal finds similarities with the lost animal, they try to suggest where he might belong. But each time he tries to fit in to another’s habitat, he falls “KERSPLAT” on his face. While many of the animals are sympathetic, the mean-old Blue-Tongued Skink just keeps on laughing at him! Finally a Bandicoot is able to determine that the lost animal is actually a Platypus, but he can’t help the Platypus find his home. Unfortunately, the Blue-Tongued Skink takes to name-calling, and says, “So far, all he’s good at is falling flat. He’s not a platypus . . . he’s a KERSPLATYPUS!” The friendlier animals keep walking with him to try to find his habitat, when they happen upon a river. The Platypus quickly discovers that the water is his home, and he even finds his mother in the river! You’ll feel much better to know that the skink slithers onto a rock by the river and falls - KERSPLAT - on his face (serves him right, you know!). While Kersplatypus is really a cute story with lots of real animal facts thrown in, I still think the neatest thing about the Sylvan Dell Publishing books is the educational activities in the back. This particular book has a “Platypus Fun Facts” page, an “OutbackAnimal Adaptation Activity”page, a two-page spread on “Animal Classification,” and then some “wrap-up questions” about bullies and friends (I particularly like the one that asks “Which animals would you like to have as friends? Why?) There are several great discussion questions that provide opportunities for some real quality conversation time with your child. The Sylvan Dell Publishing website is certainly worth checking out - there are links to the “Creative Minds” section of each book so you can see what kinds of interesting facts are covered, teaching activities for many of the books, learning links, stuffed animals for sale that coordinate with the books, as well as audio versions of the books so you can listen online (great for early readers who can read along as they listen). They have great books and wonderful resources for teaching kids and encouraging them to read and learn! I highly recommend visiting their website and seeing all they have to offer - follow the link above, so you don’t go KERSPLAT! - Karen Herring
Wee Ones Children's Magazine - March/April 2008 What an endearing character found in Kersplatypus. When the animals of the Australian Outback find this unusual animal, they are bound and determined to help it find its home. The journey is both fun and adventurous as the little platypus struggles in trees and on land. This is not where a platypus belongs! Lovely illustrations bring the Outback to life and show children what animal-life is like in another part of the world! -Jennifer Reed |
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