Item - Little Kangaroo's Bad Day

Your First Adventure may be the simplest gamebook series ever published, but author Marcia Leonard doesn't use that as an excuse to skimp on quality, as Little Kangaroo's Bad Day demonstrates. You are a kid kangaroo having a rough morning. Your baby brother wakes you up earlier than you wanted, and you accidentally step on a sharp toy in your room. Should you banish the dark clouds by seeking comfort from your parents, or head out to find your friends?

Hangout time with friends is a good remedy for grumpiness, but when you follow some older kids into the treehouse, they won't play with you. Duck offers a game of catch, but you unintentionally fling the ball too far, and it bounces into the street and is run over by a car. You go home to play alone, but your brother won't leave you be. Never fear; your mom and dad take the family out for a restaurant dinner that just might end the string of negative luck. If you stayed home with your parents from the start, breakfast devolves into a series of messy accidents. Playing in the front yard goes just as badly. Your dad takes the family for a drive in the countryside, but your car blows a tire. All of you are upset, but a good meal at a restaurant can turn that around.

Whenever your day has a rotten start, it can feel predestined to continue that way. Friends give the cold shoulder, and your own mistakes trip you up. You have a choice how to handle it, though. Will you look for the bad in every situation, determined that no good can happen? An awful morning can flip on its head and become a great afternoon or evening if you stay optimistic. Looking back on the worst part of the day, you might even find humor in the angst, and laughter is a sure mood booster. Whether you seek companionship with friends or with family may not be the determining factor in how your day turns out, but keeping an open mind to your fortunes reversing is paramount.

Nancy Duell's illustrations in Little Kangaroo's Bad Day are some of the best I've seen in a picture book. The detailed rendering of the family kitchen and panoramic scenes in the country are gorgeous. Like most Your First Adventures, Little Kangaroo's Bad Day is a book I wish more young readers would experience.

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