The Think-Ups!
Claire Alexander
Walker Books

When Anna and Kiki are stuck inside on a rainy day they soon become bored with their usual indoor activities. After a short period of staring gloomily through the window at the rain teeming down Kiki has a brainwave. “We could play the Think-Ups!” she suggests. With the only rule being to think up a Think-Up and it will appear, off they go despite Anna’s initial misgivings.

Before long the girls have called into being a whole lot of bouncing bunnies, a very lively moose,

an octet of octopuses have emerged from the loo and a host of hungry koalas are attempting to sate their appetites.

It’s huge fun for a while but then mayhem ensues as the menagerie storms into the kitchen

where the friends start to lose it with one another. However in the nick of time, just as the rain stops, Kiki comes up with a solution Think-Up

– her best so far, decides Anna. Then, the girls head outdoors into the sun, order duly restored. Or is it?

With its animated language and pastel hued scenes showing superbly the descent into chaos, coupled with the author’s portrayal of girls’ irrepressible energy and rapidly changing moods that is so typical of preschoolers, this is a terrific read aloud, made all the more fun by the use of half pages and the wealth of delightful details at every page turn. Long live the power of the imagination, especially when it’s captured as adeptly as in this story.