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Poppy Pickle
Poppy has the most extraordinary imagination.
When she is sent upstairs to tidy her room, she just can't help imagining and suddenly ...her imagination literally comes alive. Soon her room is jam-packed with all kinds of weird and wonderful creatures. There's a problem, though - the mammoth puts his foot through the floor and the hungry crocodile thinks Poppy would make a tasty snack.
Poppy needs to get rid of all these creatures FAST - but how?
When she is sent upstairs to tidy her room, she just can't help imagining and suddenly ...her imagination literally comes alive. Soon her room is jam-packed with all kinds of weird and wonderful creatures. There's a problem, though - the mammoth puts his foot through the floor and the hungry crocodile thinks Poppy would make a tasty snack.
Poppy needs to get rid of all these creatures FAST - but how?
32 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2015
About the author
Emma Yarlett
53 books129 followersEmma Yarlett graduated with honors in illustration from University College Falmouth in 2011. Her other work includes a nonfiction book by Julia Donaldson and animation for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
February 15, 2017
Sometimes a children's book comes across my hands and strikes my fancy so much that I decide to review it.
I love love love books that showcase the wild imaginations of children. There is just something so pure about that innocence and freedom.
Poppy is sent to clean her room and instead her imagination takes control and the most crazy part of all, her imaginations come to life.
But as things do, it soon gets out of control and Poppy needs to figure a way out to make order happen.
This book is not a quick glance through and be done. There is so much detail in her imagination that you must take note of it all.
I love love love books that showcase the wild imaginations of children. There is just something so pure about that innocence and freedom.
Poppy is sent to clean her room and instead her imagination takes control and the most crazy part of all, her imaginations come to life.
But as things do, it soon gets out of control and Poppy needs to figure a way out to make order happen.
This book is not a quick glance through and be done. There is so much detail in her imagination that you must take note of it all.
December 11, 2016
A wooly mammoth with a monocle? A chimp playing a cello? All sorts of outrageous things exist in Poppy Pickle's imagination...which often gets her into trouble. One day, after an incident with a flying cat and her father's head, Poppy is sent upstairs to clean her room, but instead of tidying up she starts imagining all kinds of incredible animals and things and what's even more incredible is they start to appear in her bedroom! Of course, her room is soon overrun with creatures and Poppy has to figure out how to make them disappear. This entertaining ode to the overactive imagination will delight young readers and have them on the edge of their seats wondering how Poppy will get out of her most daunting pickle yet.
September 3, 2016
love this book!
makes a great read-aloud
makes a great read-aloud
October 8, 2015
Really cute book with wonderful illustrations! Great book to teach kids about using their imagination.
January 2, 2017
"Does she not want to eat that hot dog? Because he has a face?"
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January 25, 2022This book by Emma Yarlett is about a young girl named Poppy who has an extraordinary imagination that sometimes gets out of control and comes alive. The book shows that imagination in children can be annoying and hard to deal with at times but is not always bad and should be encouraged. Your imagination can lead to crazy adventures and situations and that is what makes this a fun book to read.
I love that this book shows the creativity in the imagination of a child’s mind. It is a fun and entertaining book perfect for young readers. It has simple and easy to read text as well as colorful and busy illustrations to keep them intrigued and interested in what's going to happen next. Some pages were simple with just the text and a picture where other pages were full of pictures, words, objects, animals, things big and small that were in her head. The illustrations were funny, realistic, imaginary, bright and bold. The specific cover of the book I read was really simple with only the title and colors surrounding it. To me it does not draw me into wanting to read the book because it doesn't show what the book may be about.
As a speech therapist I would use this book to encourage imagination and use the activity of the imagination machine to have a client think of a machine that does something neat and in detail and steps, explain to me what it looks like, what it does, what it's made out of, how it works, what it needs to work, and its purpose or job, etc.
I love that this book shows the creativity in the imagination of a child’s mind. It is a fun and entertaining book perfect for young readers. It has simple and easy to read text as well as colorful and busy illustrations to keep them intrigued and interested in what's going to happen next. Some pages were simple with just the text and a picture where other pages were full of pictures, words, objects, animals, things big and small that were in her head. The illustrations were funny, realistic, imaginary, bright and bold. The specific cover of the book I read was really simple with only the title and colors surrounding it. To me it does not draw me into wanting to read the book because it doesn't show what the book may be about.
As a speech therapist I would use this book to encourage imagination and use the activity of the imagination machine to have a client think of a machine that does something neat and in detail and steps, explain to me what it looks like, what it does, what it's made out of, how it works, what it needs to work, and its purpose or job, etc.
September 4, 2026
I really loved the book poppy pickle! It tells a story of a little girl who has this huge imagination. She’s imagining things and her parents tell her to stop and go clean her room. Like any little girl, she does not clean her room and starts imagining things. She realizes that she’s really good at it and can imagine anything she wants. She starts coming up with so many things that her parents get really suspicious and say they’re coming up to see her. She panics and is trying to hide the things she made up. Her parents walk in and she’s hidden all the things but her room is torn up. She gets in huge trouble, but instead of pouting, she imagines a large mammoth that plops down at the table and her parents finally believe her. I loved this story because it was so cute and reminds children to never stop imagining things. The pictures really helped tell the whole story and the colors really stood out on the page. I loved all the images drawn, it was really cool seeing the type of drawing the illustrator did! I would use this book in my classroom to influence my students to never stop using their imaginations.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2017
A little girl named Poppy has a big imagination! At first, that's all it is, but then it starts to bring her imaginings to life! Her parents are dubious at first, but it's hard to stay doubting when confronted with a !
Poppy's super active imagination is fun, but it also shows a ting of the dark side to a vivid imagination (which actually can be a good thing to help parents/siblings/kids understand, especially if they or someone they know has problems with nightmares). Though her immediate problem is solved, Poppy hasn't learned to really control her "powers" by the end of the book, though it seems her parents will be helping her.
Content notes: No language issues. Poppy imagines a mermaid (who is scantily clad) while imagining imaginary/mythical creatures, but that's it. Poppy's imagination causes some property damage which involves a lamp hitting her dad on the head; also some of her creatures threaten to eat her but are prevented from doing so.
February 5, 2020
summary: Poppy Pickle lived in a pretty ordinary house and with an ordinary family. She goes upstairs to clean her room. Popping was not cleaning, but imagining. She started to imagine big and small animals. Things started to change when the crocodile wanted to eat her and the mammoth stepped through the ceiling. She imagined a door and put all the animals in it. Her parents did not believe Poppy until she imagined the mammoth and they saw it with their own eyes. In the end her parents believed her and Poppy was happy.
Review: I liked this book because they made the pages fun by breaking up the text. They also have fun animals in the book with great illustrations. I liked how it was about being creative with your mind.
Connection to profession: This book would be great to read to Kindergarteners or first graders because they are in that stage of loving imagination. Using your creativity is a gift that children have. Students would love the fun animals and pictures. It would also encourage them to use their imagination more and that it is good to be different than others.
Review: I liked this book because they made the pages fun by breaking up the text. They also have fun animals in the book with great illustrations. I liked how it was about being creative with your mind.
Connection to profession: This book would be great to read to Kindergarteners or first graders because they are in that stage of loving imagination. Using your creativity is a gift that children have. Students would love the fun animals and pictures. It would also encourage them to use their imagination more and that it is good to be different than others.
December 26, 2025
3/5 Stars : A silly imaginative read. I might have enjoyed this book more, had I not just read “Orion and the Dark,” by the same author. This one was very similar in approach and artistic styling, but I prefer the story of “Orion and the Dark” more.
The story of “Poppy Pickle” is relatively fun, showing all the silly and big things an imagination can think up before catastrophe happens. The dad was my favorite illustrated character, he has great emotions on the page and seems to be the constant absorber of all negative outcomes related to Poppy’s big imagination! Heehee! Poor Dad! This book also deals with consequences and having to be accountable to the negative outcomes of your actions. And, as the title page says, “no real hotdogs were harmed in the making of this book.”
Unlike “Orion and the Dark,” the tiny handwritten captions with the illustrations in “Poppy Pickle” don’t add all that much to deepen character development, in my opinion. Although, I did appreciate all of the bright vibrant color choices in this one.
The story of “Poppy Pickle” is relatively fun, showing all the silly and big things an imagination can think up before catastrophe happens. The dad was my favorite illustrated character, he has great emotions on the page and seems to be the constant absorber of all negative outcomes related to Poppy’s big imagination! Heehee! Poor Dad! This book also deals with consequences and having to be accountable to the negative outcomes of your actions. And, as the title page says, “no real hotdogs were harmed in the making of this book.”
Unlike “Orion and the Dark,” the tiny handwritten captions with the illustrations in “Poppy Pickle” don’t add all that much to deepen character development, in my opinion. Although, I did appreciate all of the bright vibrant color choices in this one.
June 15, 2017
Poppy Pickle has a big imagination which is under appreciated by her family. When ordered to go clean her room, her imagination takes over and her imagined creatures become real. The creatures become more and more destructive until Poppy can think of a way to get rid of them.
A clever story with vibrant mixed media illustrations make this a fun book for those who like a little out of control mayhem in their stories. It is humorous enough for a reading at a library storytime or in classroom setting. Fair warning the kids will all want the little speech bubbles that pepper the pictures read aloud which may take some time. Kids reading solo or one on one with an adult will enjoy delving into the more detailed pictures and those speech bubbles. Overall, I would highly recommend this book for purchase by school or public libraries.
This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.
A clever story with vibrant mixed media illustrations make this a fun book for those who like a little out of control mayhem in their stories. It is humorous enough for a reading at a library storytime or in classroom setting. Fair warning the kids will all want the little speech bubbles that pepper the pictures read aloud which may take some time. Kids reading solo or one on one with an adult will enjoy delving into the more detailed pictures and those speech bubbles. Overall, I would highly recommend this book for purchase by school or public libraries.
This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.
January 10, 2023
Poppy Pickle is a young girl with a very large imagination. Usually, her thoughts are just that, imaginary but one day whatever she imagines comes to life, which starts great at the beginning. Chocolate trees, a castle made of cake, etc. Then the creatures that could eat her are imagined and things go downhill rapidly.
Poppy needs to get rid of her imaginary items fast but how can she do it? Especially before her parents find out.
This book is a whole lot of fun. Poppy is a wonderful character, so full of vigour and joy though her imagination gets her into trouble sometimes.
The story is filled with funny moments and contains numerous lift-the-flaps, some quite small, whilst others are bigger than the book. Plus, amazing illustrations fill each page.
Poppy Pickle is a fantastic book for youngsters. Hopefully, it may help them to open their imaginations as well. It is easy to read so perfect for new readers and would work well as a bedtime story too.
Poppy needs to get rid of her imaginary items fast but how can she do it? Especially before her parents find out.
This book is a whole lot of fun. Poppy is a wonderful character, so full of vigour and joy though her imagination gets her into trouble sometimes.
The story is filled with funny moments and contains numerous lift-the-flaps, some quite small, whilst others are bigger than the book. Plus, amazing illustrations fill each page.
Poppy Pickle is a fantastic book for youngsters. Hopefully, it may help them to open their imaginations as well. It is easy to read so perfect for new readers and would work well as a bedtime story too.
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February 8, 2021Summary: This is a book about a little girl named Poppy Pickle who was full to the brim with imagination.
Reflection: I think this book is a great option to read to young children because the illustrations are very creative and detailed which will keep them engaged. In addition, the story is kinda crazy and fun which can evoke creativity and imagination.
Application: I think the ability to be creative and use your imagination is becoming a lost skill. As a teacher, I think a goal show be to draw creativity out of your students by encouraging them to use their imagination. This book can be a tool to assist them, inspire them, and excite them as they learn how to be creative and use their imagination.
Reflection: I think this book is a great option to read to young children because the illustrations are very creative and detailed which will keep them engaged. In addition, the story is kinda crazy and fun which can evoke creativity and imagination.
Application: I think the ability to be creative and use your imagination is becoming a lost skill. As a teacher, I think a goal show be to draw creativity out of your students by encouraging them to use their imagination. This book can be a tool to assist them, inspire them, and excite them as they learn how to be creative and use their imagination.
January 30, 2018
Poppy Pickle was always bound to get in trouble. One day after she had been sent to clean her room her imagination took flight. What she imagined became real and before you knew it her room was crowded and full of imagined objects and creatures. Poppy's parents were on their way upstairs to her room and she had to get rid of everything she imagined... What will Poppy do?
I very much enjoyed this book. I thought it had a super fun concept and the pictures made it very fun and interesting. I would use this book in a K-3 grade classroom to promote imagination. I want my students to believe in things they think of and I feel like this book promotes that message.
I very much enjoyed this book. I thought it had a super fun concept and the pictures made it very fun and interesting. I would use this book in a K-3 grade classroom to promote imagination. I want my students to believe in things they think of and I feel like this book promotes that message.
February 3, 2018
Poppy Pickle is a young girl full of imagination, color and fun. Some of the things she imagines inner brain are:a giant talking hotdog, a mariachi bear, a candy tree and a castle made of cake. One day, while cleaning her room something weird happened. Her imagination came alive! All of the crazy things she had dreamed of were suddenly in her room. One problem is that she is supposed to be cleaning her room. Will she get her room clean in time? What else will her imagination create?
This is such a good book that reminded me of my own imagination and how fun it is to be a kid. As a teacher, I would use this book to keep my children thinking creatively and to use their imagination.
This is such a good book that reminded me of my own imagination and how fun it is to be a kid. As a teacher, I would use this book to keep my children thinking creatively and to use their imagination.
March 2, 2018
This is the story of Poppy whose imagination comes to life. One day when she is supposed to be cleaning her room her imagination explodes with all sorts of creatures that come alive and fill her room including a woolly mammoth and a crocodile. They create quite a mess and Poppy gets in trouble for being too creative. But this all changes when her parents are finally able to see what she is talking about.
This book is a fun creative read on imagination and I loved the illustrations!
I would use this in my classroom either as an independent read for my kids or as a read aloud for when my kids imagination needs a little sparking.
This book is a fun creative read on imagination and I loved the illustrations!
I would use this in my classroom either as an independent read for my kids or as a read aloud for when my kids imagination needs a little sparking.
June 13, 2020
Very imaginative book. Great for kids with big imaginations. There is some real humor here. I laughed out loud at the first page and the last few pages. This author is very creative. The illustrations are clever, colorful, playful and fanciful. There is a lot happening on each page. This will keep kids entertained. I can imagine children giggling a lot while reading this. The only slight problem is some of the print for the animals speech is quite small. Also, a bit of it is in cursive. Otherwise, splendid book. I highly recommend this author for parents looking for books a bit off the beaten path. Very talented author.
January 15, 2023
I feel like just about everything Emma Yarlett touches is gold and this book is no different. Of course, I might be a little slanted because the first book my son ever said he loved was Nibbles Dinosaur. :)
As always, bright and fun illustrations and imaginative text. We always love the flaps because it adds a bit of interactivity for the kiddos. Reading this book led us to a conversation about imagination and the statement from my son (5) who doesn't think he has one! So then we got to talk about all the things that come from his imagination and cleared that right up for him.
Silly and fun and even a bit cautionary (lol) about how our imaginations can sometimes run away from us.
As always, bright and fun illustrations and imaginative text. We always love the flaps because it adds a bit of interactivity for the kiddos. Reading this book led us to a conversation about imagination and the statement from my son (5) who doesn't think he has one! So then we got to talk about all the things that come from his imagination and cleared that right up for him.
Silly and fun and even a bit cautionary (lol) about how our imaginations can sometimes run away from us.
January 25, 2019
This bookIs about a little girl names Poppy Pickle and her imagination.
I think this book was okay. I did not like the parents role in the book.
I would use this book when teaching about imagination and thinking of things on their own. in the book Poppy imagined all different kinds of things. I could also use this book when teaching about being ourselves. This book i think does a good job of saying that its okay to be different from other people and be extraordinary.
I think this book was okay. I did not like the parents role in the book.
I would use this book when teaching about imagination and thinking of things on their own. in the book Poppy imagined all different kinds of things. I could also use this book when teaching about being ourselves. This book i think does a good job of saying that its okay to be different from other people and be extraordinary.
October 14, 2019
A fun book about imagination and where it can take you. The idea that your imagination can be so big that it can literally spill out into reality is a wish I'm sure many students have. Aside from the story itself, the things that Poppy imagines are so fun and they have very funny things to say in their own speech bubbles and assessment of the situation they are in. A fun book to share about not limiting yourself by only dealing in things you already know - explore your imagination.
March 3, 2021
Summary: Poppy Pickle was a member of a boring family but she has a great imagination. She thinks of all kinds of animals and different things, but it doesn't end up too well.
Analysis: This was such a cute book to read. I was so excited to see all the things Poppy could think of. The illustrations are great too!
How I would use this book in my classroom: I would read this book to my class and for art time I would have them draw the craziest animals and things they could imagine and then have the kids present them to the class
Analysis: This was such a cute book to read. I was so excited to see all the things Poppy could think of. The illustrations are great too!
How I would use this book in my classroom: I would read this book to my class and for art time I would have them draw the craziest animals and things they could imagine and then have the kids present them to the class
March 21, 2021
A mi hija le encanta, la imaginación de Pepa es desbordante. Incluso tenemos un pequeño juego en el que ella imagina un animal imaginario y tras un poco de magia y un "¡POP!" realmente aparece volando en su habitación... Sus peluches y muñecos cobran nueva vida para convertirse en personajes reales que hablan y juegan con ella :]
November 12, 2017
This is an amazing story about how your imagination can get the best of you but with quick thinking you can pull yourself out of the jam. The illustrations are incredible.
Perfect for an imagination storytime.
Perfect for an imagination storytime.
March 20, 2019
Fabulous book! My four-year-old daughter loved this book. She said it's a thumbs up. She enjoyed it and the book held her attention. Especially if she asks to read a book more than once. The illustration is lovely. I would recommend this.
November 19, 2016
megan fall reading 2016, children's book, picture book, imagination, animals, prek, kindergarten, first grade, second grade,
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2017
love the illustrations and the story!
June 7, 2017
This book is endearing as a one-on-one read or a read-a-loud to a group. There is humor for both kids and adults. Plus, it's a book you can read multiple times without tiring.
October 2, 2017
What a wonderful book to bring imagination alive because literally Poppy Pickle's imagination comes alive! It is so fun and creative.
(And its a little funny to say Poppy Pickle 10x fast)
(And its a little funny to say Poppy Pickle 10x fast)
November 9, 2017
Loved this fun book! Lots of little side comments for the adults, too.
February 3, 2018
Poppy has an imagination that gets her into trouble.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews