Even with a few weak points, this book is a good addition to the anti-bullying genre.
In Jay’s picture book, a boy with a tremendous name battles bullies, with help from his grandfather.
When Jug-a-ro-mack-a-la-lulu-a-quack-a-la-lulu-e-zack-a-la-lulu-o-pippin greets his new class in Badgersville, everybody, including the teacher, laughs at his long name. He receives a similar response from a crossing guard, a pair of policemen and some firemen, with each offender turning from humans into ugly green monsters as they laugh and taunt. Exasperated by the ridicule, Jug-a-ro-mack-a-la-lulu-a-quack-a-la-lulu-e-zack-a-la-lulu-o-pippin decides to leave town to escape the bullies. His grandfather convinces him to give the new town another try and hands him a notebook to record a 50-cent deposit each time he gets teased that he can put toward buying toys and games; that way his tormentors are doing him a favor by earning him money. It turns out this was the same notebook given to Jug’s grandfather by his grandfather when kids teased him about his name back in 1943. Books that fight the war against bullies are almost always welcome on the bookshelf. Jay, a classroom teacher, has combined fun silliness with the seriousness of ugly behavior in his picture book; even the illustrations play with brightness and darkness to reflect the tone of the page. Sometimes the rhyming text feels forced, and the final solution—material reward for ignoring bullies—may not sit well with parents hoping to teach their children how to get along with people without buying lots of stuff. Also, Jay may have attracted more readers if his characters had been shown laughing at themselves, too—readers are sure to giggle at the complicated name and might feel that’s an unambiguous bad thing since the people in the book who laugh at the name are depicted as monsters. But adults and kids will have fun trying to pronounce the main character’s name and the illustrations are rich, with an appealing zaniness. Discussion questions at the end help readers get the most out of the book.
Even with a few weak points, this book is a good addition to the anti-bullying genre.Pub Date: March 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-1449980580
Page Count: 40
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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