Bobbie Dazzler

Posted by Elizabeth Yetter Jul 22, 2007

Bursting with energy, Bobbie Dazzler by Margaret Wild (Kane/Miller Book Publishers, ISBN 978-1-933605-46-3) is a story that will have young children showing off their skills in no time. Each page is filled with leaps and bounds that make it hard to sit still after a single reading.

Meet Bobbie. She is a Red-Necked Wallaby in Australia and she is bursting with energy. She shows her friends Koala, Wombat, and Possum all the fun things she can do. She can jump, bounce, skip, hop on her left and then her right leg, walk on her heels, and even walk on her toes. She can keep her balance while walking across a fallen log. She can twirl, stand on her head, do hand springs, and do somersaults forwards and backwards.

Despite all the things she can do, Bobbie cannot do the splits. Try as she might, she could only slide down so far. Koala, Wombat, and Possum tell her not to mind. But Bobbie does mind.

Determined not to give up, Bobbie continues to try to do the splits. Her friends watch and encourage her not to give up. Then finally! Bobbie does a split. “Dazzling!” all her friends cheer. There is just one problem; Bobbie has trouble getting up again.

This book is definitely not a bedtime story. Bobbie Dazzler makes children want to get up and move around. It is a great book to read before children take recess or gym class. It also makes kids anxious to show off their own skills at jumping and hopping.

The illustrations by Janine Dawson show the Australian landscape and animals in a delightful manner. Dawson visited the Taronga Zoo in Sydney and sketched the native animals. After admiring the big red kangaroos, she decided to portray Bobbie as a Red-necked Wallaby. Her illustrations also include native vegetation such as banksias, bottlebrushes, eaucalyptus, and kangaroo paw.