What an extravaganza of colour and imagination! Poppy Pickle has bags of energy and an amazing imagination, so amazing that the things she imagines start to come to life. Instead of cleaning her room, Poppy Pickle starts to daydream and as each creature she imagines comes to life, her rooms starts to fill with this fabulous array of creatures. Unfortunately, though, not all of them are as friendly as Poppy would have liked and, when the crocodile tries to eat her, she realises it is time that they all left - but how? There is one spread that shows all the fun things that Poppy has dreamed up, from a castle made of cake to never-ending pocket money, which is bound to help encourage children to create their own list of imagined things. But as you turn the page, you find all the other kinds of things you might find in your imagination - and children could list the things that sometimes worry them. But this story really is a celebration of children's imagination and would be an excellent story to share before they start writing their own. -- Reading Zone * Reading Zone *
Living with "an ordinary dad, an ordinary mom, and three ordinary cats" is not always easy for the extraordinary Poppy Pickle-who is "full to the brim with imagination." When Poppy is sent to clean her room, however, her imagination gets the best of her, as a whole menagerie of imagined creatures become real and threaten to overtake her ordinary house. After trying unsuccessfully to "un-imagine" them, Poppy imagines a door instead and pushes the creatures through; unfortunately, there is little she can do about the mess they left behind, and she must prove to her parents that she is not the one to blame for it. Yarlett's mixed-media illustrations are bold, bright, and colorful and give joyous life to Poppy's infectious enthusiasm and creativity. Poppy's imagined creatures are a whimsical delight, and many spreads are punctuated with clever, quirky details that reward readers who carefully examine the art. Different fonts are used for narration and dialogue, and there is variety in the text size throughout and in the composition of each page. VERDICT This entertaining and eye-catching story should find a place in most collections. It is sure to be a hit in storytime. -- Lauren Strohecker * School Library Journal *
