It Was You, Blue Kangaroo! by Emma Chichester Clark (2025)

LoveReading4Kids Says

Lily and Blue Kangaroo are inseparable. Wherever Lily goes, Blue Kangaroo goes too. But Lily is not always fair and blames Blue Kangaroo when she is naughty. One day Lily is very bad indeed and Blue Kangaroo is taken away until he learns how to behave...but will he?

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It Was You, Blue Kangaroo! Synopsis

Lily and Blue Kangaroo - a friendship forever! Another heart warming story featuring Lily and her much-loved toy, Blue Kangaroo, from award-winning, renowned illustrator, Emma Chichester Clark.

About This Edition

Emma Chichester Clark Press Reviews

Praise for the Blue Kangaroo series:

'Irresistible... brimming with 'Aaah factor Bookseller

'Blue Kangaroo is a winner.' T. E. S

'Warm, funny and beautifully observed. Any family that hasn't yet discovered Blue Kangaroo has a treat in store.
Daily Telegraph

'Blue Kangaroo is rapidly becoming an all-time classic children's character.' Books For Keeps

Praise for What Shall We Do, Blue Kangaroo?:

'This latest story of Lily and her little blue friend contains much to enjoy on many levels and is utterly enchanting. Chichester Clark achieves a magical luminosity and richness in her pictures. Books for Keeps

'Clark's expressive characters and clear, bright watercolors enhance the humor of this appealing story about independence and friendship.' Publishers Weekly

'As always, Clark's watercolor illustrations are bright and appealing. Readers ... will be delighted to be reunited with this pair.' School Library Journal Review

This is the third in the series of Blue Kangaroo books by the experienced children's author and illustrator Emma Chichester Clark. In 1988, Chichester Clark won the Mother Goose Award as the most exciting newcomer to children's book illustration and this simple but appealing book shows that she has lived up to her promise. The heroine of It Was You, Blue Kangaroo! is Lily, a little girl who always blames her acts of naughtiness, such as flooding the kitchen or stealing toys from her baby brother, on her favourite toy, Blue Kangaroo. Eventually, Lily's mother becomes so cross that she banishes Blue Kangaroo to the downstairs bookcase, and Lily has to go to sleep without him. Luckily, Blue Kangaroo is able to save the day and appease Lily's mum. Chichester Clark is by training an illustrator rather than a writer, and the great charm of this book is in its illustrations. You could easily leave the words out and the pictures would tell the story by themselves. Each picture, although clear and simple, has enough detail to engage the curiosity of small children. There's plenty of gentle comedy too - the look of alarm on the cat's face, when Lily dresses it in baby clothes, is marvellous. The real hero of the story is Blue Kangaroo himself, who demonstrates the value of loyalty in adversity. Any child who enjoyed the first two Blue Kangaroo books will surely love this one and look forward to many more. (Kirkus UK)

About Emma Chichester Clark

Emma Chichester Clark studied at the Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art, where she was taught by Quentin Blake. She has worked as a freelance illustrator for various magazines including New Scientist, Cosmopolitan and The Sunday Times,for publishers and advertising agencies as well as teaching art for several years,and has also illustrated numerous book jackets.

In 1988 she won the Mother Goose Award for her first book, Listen to This!, an anthology compiled by Laura Cecil. She also won the Kate Greenaway medal in 1988. Since then, she has become internationally known, illustrating writers such as Roald Dahl, Peter Dickinson, Anne Fine and Margaret Mahy. Emma was the first winner of the newly created Grinzane Junior Award for I Love you, Blue Kangaroo.

Emma was born in London but raised in Ireland. She started drawing "just about as soon as I could hold a pencil. But I could never find enough paper and my mother wouldn't let me use her Basildon Bond. So secretly I used to tear the blank pages out of her grown-up books and draw on them and make my own little books."

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