Quick, Slow, Mango!

PreS-Gr 1—Despite his mama's admonition to hurry, the young elephant first seen in Kidogo (Bloomsbury, 2005) is a dawdler. After the herd has moved on, he finally decides to drink at the river. PolePole the monkey, on the other hand, cannot slow down, and mayhem seems to follow her everywhere. When her unsuccessful and rushed attempts to snag mangoes land her and the delectable fruits in the river, it is Kidogo's zenlike rock imitation, with a stick outstretched from his trunk, that slowly stops both monkey and mangoes. As the two munch on breakfast companionably on the shore, their mothers retrieve them. Kidogo's mama decides that "slowly, slowly" can net good results, although he thinks that "hurry hurry" provided the breakfast. The pencil and watercolor art is suffused with warm yellows and pinks. Although the lesson may sail over the heads of the youngest listeners, they will still warm to the childlike qualities of the characters and this tale of two unlikely friends finding one another.—Marge Loch-Wouters, La Crosse Public Library, WI