Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews

Milo Armadillo

Milo Armadillo

Jan Fearnley
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
Candlewick Press, 2009   ISBN: 0763645753

Tallulah’s birthday is coming up, and when her parents ask her what she wants, Tallulah tells them that she would like “a pink fluffy rabbit.” One would think that this would be an easy thing to find, but it isn’t. Tallulah and her family look and look but they cannot find a pink fluffy rabbit anywhere. So Tallulah’s grandma decides to knit a pink fluffy rabbit for her granddaughter.

At first all goes well, but then the knitting gets a little out of control and the animal that Grandma makes turns out to be something else altogether. When Tallulah opens Grandma’s gift box she sees not a pink fluffy rabbit, but a pink (and other colors) armadillo! Dear me, Tallaluh is most disappointed, but she does not say anything because she does not want to hurt Grandma’s feelings.

Milo the armadillo is soon a fixture in Tallulah’s life. He is very athletic, he plays the saxophone, and all in all he is a fantastic playmate. Unfortunately, Tallulah cannot help regretting that Milo is not a rabbit.

In this warm, funny¸ and utterly delightful picture book, Jan Fearnley uses delicious multimedia illustrations – she uses yarn, fabric, sequins and other things in her pictures – to tell a story that is both entertaining and meaningful.