Oi duck-billed platypus! by Kes Gray
Oi duck-billed platypus! by Kes Gray
Illus. by Jeff Field. Hodder Children's Books, 2019. ISBN:
9781444937336. pbk.
(Age: 4+) Highly recommended. Themes: Animals, Verse, Word play,
Alliteration, Humour. Following on from the success of the zany fun
filled humour of the "Oi" books (Oi Frog
(2014) Oi Dog
(2016), and Oi Cat
(2017)) this paperback version follows a slightly different
variation as the frog finds it difficult to find a rhyme for some of
the animals that appear before him, waiting to be seated. What do
you rhyme with a duck billed platypus or a hippopotamus, an ostrich
or a meerkat. Frog, cat and dog are puzzled and platypus is not very
patient, reminding the trio that he is waiting, as he points out the
queue behind him of other animals also waiting for their rhyme
before being seated.
Eventually the Frog asks for their first names and they find it much
easier to use their first names rather than their second to find a
rhyme that fits. So Dolly the duck-billed platypus sits on a brolly,
Kate kookaburra sits on a gate and Lemony lobster sits on an
anemone. Everyone is satisfied, the alliterative names of the
animals used to make a nice rhyming seat until a kangaroo happens to
come along, with the fearful name, Amelia Esmerelda Honeydew
HigginbottomPinkleponk-Johnson. The resolution will have children
trying vainly to find a rhyme and like frog, telling the kangaroo to
sit where she likes.
Full of humour, reflected in the appealing illustrations, the tale
will bring laughter from all readers, recognising the alliteration
and how it teams with the animal's name, seeing the rhyme that frog
comes up with, perhaps offering an alternative, all the while
looking closely at the expressions on the faces to see what a
quandary frog is in. In a class emphasis could be the word play,
rhyme and alliteration, while discussion with younger readers about
first and last names would be appropriate.
All readers will love looking out for the seat of each of the
animals and delight in the end papers with Field's platypus
panorama.
Fran Knight