This adventure starts with the endpapers, when a stork accidentally drops an egg on the way to make a baby delivery. The wayward egg hatches in front of some surprised farm animals, and a case of mistaken identity ensues. The baby's first word is "eee-moo" (imitating the respective reactions of a nearby pig and cow), so all the farm-animal locals assume that the little platypus is actually an emu, and they direct the little guy to Australia to find his parents. After hopping from one form of transportation to another, Eee-Moo finds his flock, but he quickly sees that he doesn't fit in with the emus. Not to worry: a nearby koala facilitates a happy ending by reuniting him with his real platypus parents. Dunklee's story is incredibly sweet and silly, and Won's winning illustrations add a wonderful sense of whimsy to the proceedings. Readers will delight in this world of anthropomorphized animals, coming away with a lesson on the importance of the friends and family who help them find their way.

A little platypus finds himself stranded far from his own kind, but with the help of friends, he travels back to Australia, where he is united with his parents.The stork delivers a large egg on the opening endpapers of this whimsical story, the egg hatching on a farm next to a pig ("EEE!") and a cow ("MOO!"). The baby platypus names himself Eee-Moo, and the farm animals send him on his way to Australia to find other emus. The resourceful creature uses several kinds of transportation to return to Australia, where a kangaroo, a kookaburra, some actual emus, and a koala help him find his family. Eee-Moo invites all the animals that helped him to visit, and they all ride off into the sunset on a bicycle built for eight. The closing endpapers offer an intriguing, wordless conclusion as Eee-Moo, holding another egg, flies toward a new adventure on the back of the stork. The clever plot has a fairy-tale flavor, with talking animal characters and Eee-Moo's travels that transcend logical rules of time and space. Digitally composed illustrations have the appearance of delicate watercolor paintings with ink outlines. The clothed, anthropomorphic animals all appear to be male except for a hen and Eee-Moo's mother.An unusual, robustly Antipodean cast of animal characters makes this whimsical, charming story stand out. (Picture book. 4-7)