Roly Poly Pangolin by Anna Dewdney

This new book by Dewdney has the same cadence as her Llama Llama books.  Roly Poly is a very small, young pangolin who doesn’t like new things.  Even friendly faces scare him and have him running away.  When he hears frightening noises, he runs, falls and then rolls tightly into a ball.  It takes a lot of courage for him to eventually uncurl and see exactly what frightened him so badly.  But when he does, he finds that it just might be easier to make friends than keep on fleeing in fear.

This is a simple book perfect for a toddler audience.  Dewdney uses rhyme and rhythm as well as repeated phrases throughout the book.  Filled with just enough action and strange noises, this book will appeal to children who may be fearful of new things themselves.  Dewdney’s illustrations are equally welcoming.  There is plenty of humor here in both the text and the illustrations too.  The book ends with a paragraph of information on the pangolin.

Get this into the hands of Llama Llama fans and also to those children who enjoy new, strange animals.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Penguin.