Five Little Platypuses / Karen Erasmus (illustrator)
(Hachette, 2014)
Five Little Platypuses is the book you expect it to be. It’s the cute, cuddly, Australian version of Five Little Ducks.
Erasmus’s illustrations are oh-so-cute. The platypuses are very cuddly, and you want to cuddle the mummy platypus too when her last platypus heads off over the billabong and far away.
Five Little Platypuses won’t blow your mind. But it’s not meant to. It’s a read-along, sing-along book with the bonus of being a tune we all know well. And despite ‘platypus’ containing just a few more syllables than ‘duck’ (with an extra one thrown in for the plural version), the rhyme fits.
Recommended for children aged born and up. You can buy Five Little Platypuses from Booktopia here.
Have you read Five Little Platypuses? What did you think?
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This is so cute! Would be a great gift for a newborn 🙂
It definitely would! Then you can read or sing it to them, depending on your preference.
Awww! That looks so sweet.
I’ve never seen it, but it might be a good one to buy my grand daughter.
Off to buy it now in fact!
Leanne @ Deep Fried Fruit
Oh good! I hope she likes it!
I always enjoy aussie adaptations of classic stories. Especially when they make it this cute!
It’s so very cute. I don’t always enjoy them, but this one was loved by all when I read it at the end of our Australian animal-themed music group sessions.
Cute! Is it easy to sing though? It’s got a few more syllables than ducks.
Also I never realised the plural of platypus was platypuses. I always thought it would be platypi. Like octopi.
Despite the title, they drop the word ‘little’ from the actual story/song. So it fits (although it still has an extra syllable). And octopi isn’t the original plural form of octopus anyway – it’s octopuses!
I have one little 3 year old who would love this book. Very cute.
Very cute indeed!
This looks very cute and one that MrTT would love as he loves counting and any books that we can sing along to (bless him for not being concerned with my questionable singing abilities). What sound does a platypus make though? Is it still a quack?!
Interesting question! There are no sounds – the mummy platypus just sings out ‘Please come back here!’
Oh how adorable! I love giving all-Australian books like these to friends and family in the mother country and platypuses are my favourite!
That’s a great idea – how have I not done that yet?! I might send a copy to my host sister’s nephew in France!
This is soooooo cute! I love little Aussie books. Life isn’t all squirrels and bunnies… x
That’s right! Cute though they are.