Katy No-Pocket

by Emmy Payne, H.A. Rey (Illustrator)

Katy's distress at being a kangaroo with no pouch is quickly remedied by a kindly construction worker.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Family, 1st Grade, Classics

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1944

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

So charming and delightful! Katy's quest to find a pocket for her joey and the resulting solution demonstrates resourcefulness, practicality, and kindness. Fun and engaging with bright, colorful illustrations and optimistic determination, it's a valuable message packaged in a very appealing book!

[Cindy aka "The Book Fairy" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a darling kid's story:)

[R.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hehe, I love this book! I just finished reading it to my younger siblings! Although it's not realistic that Katy doesn't have any pocket, it's a funny story! Reading it in silly voices is great too! ;)

[Louize · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once, a long time ago, my father gave me a copy of this book. It’s a story about a mother kangaroo who doesn’t have a pouch to carry her joey with. So, starts her adventure searching about for a way.

If a story stayed with you, even decades have gone by, maybe there's a very good reason or a lesson why. And, that is why I so love this book. It’s a story about coping with one's own peculiarity, never giving up, and how a grain of generosity may give a pocketful of possibilities for others.

Please, find a copy for your kids today and may they also have the lesson that enriched my childhood.


Same thoughts shared here

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just have to put this on here, because this was my absolute favorite book when I was a little girl. I must have checked it out from the library 20 times.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

An endearing little tale about a mother Kangaroo who doesn't have a pocket and sets out to find a solution to carrying her little Joey around. She meets all kinds of animal mothers, asking them advice on how they tote their young. But the solution Katy finds is original.

Ages: 4 - 8

Cleanliness: a man smokes a pipe. "For goodness' sake" is said.

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it!

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[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite children’s stories and a beloved book for my kids. It is always charming, no matter how many times I’ve read it. The illustrations are fairly simple but they’re perfect for the story - sweet, homey, and delightful. This will remain in my library for many years, as I hope to read it to my grandchildren one day.

[Jovan Cianci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katy is a Kangaroo who has a kid but she has no pocket for him! So they ask people how you carry your child.

[Kelly]

Silly ...but it was highly requested. ;)

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like there are a lot of little things that I could take exception to with this book. However, when I take it as a whole, I really enjoy it. I think the idea of a pocketless kangaroo is interesting. And I think the solution to her problem is funny too. H.A. Rey's illustrations also really help the story which I think could have been pretty sappy with a different illustrator. I also like that the words "upside down" are printed upside down. I think it's important for publishers to have a sense of play with all aspects of the book from type to end-papers. It makes for a more nuanced book and I think those are the ones that endure.

[Pamela Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thankfully my mother has not thrown this book away. Now that I have a niece and nephews it is fun to pull out when we go back to visit the grandparents. Who can say why I enjoyed this book so much as a child--perhaps it appealed to that strong motherhood force that resides in most women from birth or a child feeling protected by his/her mother. I would recommend it to anyone. The illustrations are still strong in my memory.

[Caleb Woznicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a scarring experience. “Oh we’re going to the Williamson’s lake house, it’ll be fun!” roughly 9:10 pm and all the middle school girls are asking me to read them this book. After a bit of Googling about Kangaroo anatomy and thinking about it probably too much, I am sad that I found this forgotten book in the corner of a drawer upstairs in a spare bedroom.. Good times.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The girls actually quite enjoyed this one. An older picture book with surprisingly poor grammar! It made me chuckle. But the story about a kangaroo without a pocket was cute.

[Cmfzebra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it because she had so many pockets.

[Darin Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katy cannot carry her son, Freddy, and it causes her great stress! So, she's takes off to see how other mother's take care of their young, wondering if she could carry her son that way. She talks to a birds in a nest, a lioness and her cubs who walk, a crocodile with her baby on her back, and a monkey holding her baby. All these ways are not something that Katy could do, so she asks the wise owl who says simply, "get some pockets!" Off Katy heads to find those pockets, off to the city! Pockets all around, but a man with a carpenter apron has pockets everywhere. He gives Katy his apron, and with Freddy safely in a pocket, she hops home where Freddy's friends want a ride too!

5 stars because of the idea that Katy never quit on her problem. There were set backs and she was ready to give up, but she kept going. The illustrations remind me of Curious George, which is a good thing. A great read on never giving up or giving in on your problems!

[Leigh Shoemaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about a kangaroo mama with no pouch. Her baby is too slow to hop beside her and she is very sad. She goes to lots of other animals to see how they carry their babies but nothing seems to work. She goes to an owl for wise advice and he tells her she will find what she needs in the city. So they head to the city in search!

I liked this story because it showed how differences can be a good thing! I liked how it introduced how different animals carry their babies.

This could be used in a classroom to teach children that differences can be cool! Just because a child is different doesn’t mean that they are less!!

[Alana Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a mother Kangaroo who was not born with a pouch. She has a baby and when they move her baby falls behind she desperately wants to find a pouch so she can carry her baby. She asks all sorts of animals and they give her no real help until one says go to the city and you'll find one. She gets there and finds a man in an apron he gives it to her and she was able to carry her baby and all the other babies whos mothers don't have pouches.

This is a great story for determination. Learning how when you put your mind to something you can always find a solution is a great lesson to learn.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three things:
1-it is accurate that if a kangaroo walked up to me on the street and asked for my work apron, I would give it to her, even if it was a super great work apron.
2-That is a SUPER GREAT work apron, and I want to know where I can get one like it, without having to become a kangaroo and go ask someone for it.
3-I got the whole way to the end of this before I realized it wasn't a curious george book. The art style is pretty much exactly the same.

EDITED TO ADD: It was drawn by H.A. Rey. So, uh, number three is not so surprising I guess.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Katy No-Pocket is about a plucky kangaroo who hasn't a pocket to carry her baby around in. She goes on an adventure to find an appropriate pocket. She meets a kind carpenter who stops to ask "why" she is crying. He has not only a solution to Katy's lack of a pocket, but a way for Katy to help out her jungle friends as well.

Katy No-Pocket is a simple read with a simple message about helping out others and taking the time to listen to another's troubles. Not one of my favorite reads (I don't care for crying kangaroos) but it is a book that is readily enjoyed by young children.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story about a kangaroo with no pocket in which to carry her baby. Ok, unrealistic, but ignore that and enjoy the rest of it! It's a sweet story about family, overcoming disability, the kindness of others, and how even just a kind word can help another. It's a little long for my preschool story time, but if I summarize some of the pages, the kids stay engaged and learn about ingenuity, perseverance, and compassion.

[Dana Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up reading this book and couldn't wait to give a copy to my own kids! This story teaches perseverance even through difficulty as Katy is sad she has no pocket to carry her son in but tries to figure out how to accomplish the task in another way. You also learn about other animals and how the mama and baby stick together when the baby is young. Katy finds help in an unexpected place and finally gets her pocket!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adorable story about a mother kangaroo who had no pocket in which to keep her baby. She asked different animals how they carried their young, but none of their methods worked for her. Her little joey was tired from hopping and couldn't keep up with her. One day she was given the idea to go to the city to find a pocket. Once there she discovered the best thing ever for her baby, and for other babies too!
Fun illustrations.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ha ha! Before Amazon, there was our Weekly Reader Childrens' Book Club! So exciting to get those books in the mail! Most of the stories were fine, but this one stood out. I loved the mother not giving up on solving her problem of how she could carry her joey without a pocket. Pictures by H.A. Rey of Curious George fame!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s some great lessons in this childrens book:

1. The emphasis on motherhood and self-sacrifice;
2. The importance of perseverance;
3. The importance of seeking advice from those wiser than ourselves;
4. The generosity we must show to those less fortunate than ourselves.

Plus, I love the illustrations from the same illustrator and author of Curious George. Just an extra bonus. :)

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet story about a Kangaroo who can't carry her baby, since she doesn't have a "pocket". This would be a great book to read alongside while teaching the Scientific Method - the kangaroo first observes, performs tests and asks questions and finally finds a suitable solution to help her carry her baby.

[Katie Kaste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katy is a kangaroo without pockets. She is in distress because she wants to be able to carry her son. When she goes to town a nice man makes her an apron with many pockets. Katy is finally able to carry her son and so many more. This was a sweet picture book. I enjoyed the Kangaroo Katy and her journey to find a pocket.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a pretty old book, so I'll forgive its grammatical errors (as they were not errors at the time). Pretty mediocre overall, however. I find books where animals who are predators/prey get along to be very strange for children, as it gives them a very sugar coated view of how animals interact.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was kind of long but thanks to the pictures I was able to skip some of the prose sections and discuss "what do you think happens next?" and "who is she talking to now?" So it's good for discussion, too.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gift for V. from Sis. Tomlinson. Adorable pictures and cute story. I'm surprised I had never heard of this before. It's even a Children's Choice Book Club, which many of the picture books of my childhood came from.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story of a mother kangaroo without a pouch trying to find a way to carry her joey (who in this case is named Freddy.) The kindness of a stranger she meets both solves her problem and allows her to pay it forward.