Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Jack by Tomie dePaola -- OPTIONAL

dePaola, Tomie Jack. PICTURE BOOK. Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin USA), 2014. $17.99. Content: G.

Jack travels to the city to find a new house. Along the way, random animals ask if they can join him. By the time he arrives at the castle to request a place to live, he has an entire band of friends with him.

I wanted to like this book, since I know dePaola has a lot of fans. I do indeed love the illustrations, and the concept is cute; however, the plot is simplistic and lacking in any sort of tension. While that works in some books, it's usually because beautiful, humorous, or otherwise creative text makes up for the simplicity. Not the case here. Still, it might make a nice read-aloud for a young child before bed.

Pre-K, EL (K-3) -- OPTIONAL. Reviewer: Caryn

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