THE POCKET CHAOTIC

When his messy, crowded environment becomes too chaotic, a young kangaroo reaches a tipping point.

Alexander loves “hanging out” with his mum, who’s great at skipping rope, cooking, playing the piano, and crafting. Unfortunately, Mum’s not very tidy and always overloads her pouch, where Alexander prefers to spend most of his time. The pouch is warm, cozy, and smells like Mum, but it’s also filled with her phone, wallet, shopping receipts, change, things she finds in the park, and sometimes his sister’s stinky gym shorts. When Alexander complains, his sister just tells him he’s too old to still be in Mum’s pouch. Alexander futilely tries organizing things alphabetically in the pouch, but Mum just keeps adding more and more. One day, Mum tosses so much stuff into her pouch Alexander can barely move. A half-eaten banana—“A HALF. EATEN. BANANA.”—however, proves to be the final straw, prompting Alexander to announce, “this pocket is too CHAOTIC,” and finally take needed action. Amusing illustrations, rendered with fluid, black brush strokes and a snappy, eye-catching, orange-dominated palette, effectively capture all the turmoil, unrest, and chaos of Alexander’s life in Mum’s bulging pouch. Double-page spreads of Alexander fruitlessly wrangling an endless array of diverse objects present a convincing argument for his eventual progression from pouch into the next phase of his young life.

A humorous invitation to embrace change and move on.