In this follow-up to If I Had a Dinosaur (2017), the same brown-skinned girl now imagines what it would be like to have a pet kangaroo (spoiler alert: it's awesome!). First, though, readers will want to note the "Aussie words" defined on the title page and the Australian animals introduced in the opening spread. From there, they'll embark on a fittingly bouncy journey told in rhyming couplets as the girl enumerates all the activities she and her kangaroo would do: they'd mow the lawn for snack time because kangaroos are herbivores, keep fit by bouncing on a trampoline, and have baths made extra bubbly "from her super-turbo-kicks!" But, as with any pet, it wouldn't be all fun metimes you'd have to stop and scoop the kanga poop. Still, getting to snuggle on the couch and read a bedtime book together more than makes up for that. Barrow's colorful, simple illustrations are energetic and entertaining, and one spread even demands turning the book vertically to accommodate a particularly high kangaroo jump. A fun exercise in imagination.

A young child Down Under, in considering a pet, imagines all the fun they could have with a kangaroo.Readers may recognize the brown-skinned child with their cloud of black hair, blue dress, and yellow Madeline hat from previous outings about pets (If I Had a Unicorn, 2020). This time, they would like a pet with spring: a kangaroo. Not only could the kangaroo carry the child's backpack, but she could carry the child, too, in her pouch! She could also mow the grass (she's an "herbivore"), deliver mail, and kick up a froth of bubbles in the bath. Not all the things the duo do together require the specific skill set of a kangaroo, though-barbecuing, dancing in the rain, and snuggling on the couch for book time-but those things are certainly nice to do with a loved pet companion. Australian vocabulary makes an occasional appearance in the rhyming verses-G'day, billabong-along with a sport from Down Under: "Kangaroos are good at sports, / so in a cricket match / she'd bowl a spinning googly… / And she'd use her pouch to catch!" (The illustration here does a pretty good job of putting this in context.) And this entry includes the series' requisite scatological references. The child's friends are diverse, and their parents appear to be an interracial couple. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Be prepared for some unusual pet requests after sharing this one. (Picture book. 3-8)