Title: The Big Jump and Other Stories
Author: Benjamin Elkin
Artist: Katherine Evans
Genre: Children's / Fantasy
Year Published: 1958
Year Read: 1993 (Re Read: 2019)
Publisher: Beginner Books
Source: Purchased
Content Rating: Ages 4+ (Some Intense Scenes)
Buy or Add on: Amazon // Goodreads
Now, I have been reading many children’s books ever since I was little and most of these children’s books that I had read at the time were inspired by Dr. Seuss’ works. One of the Dr. Seuss inspired books that I had read as a child was an unknown children’s book called “The Big Jump and Other Stories” by Benjamin Elkin, along with artwork by Katherine Evans and it was such a treat to read again!
The book contains three stories that details the
adventures of the King and a young boy named Ben.
The
Big Jump
Many years ago, only the king was allowed to have a
dog as a pet and the King had over a dozen dogs as pets. One day, the King took his dogs out for a
walk when suddenly, one of the dogs ran over to a young boy named Ben and would
not go back to the king. The king then decided
that he will give the dog to Ben if Ben is able to jump to the top of the
palace like the King can.
Something
New
The story starts off with the King trying to find
something new in the woods so that he could take this new item to the bad king
of a separate kingdom. If the good king
does not bring the bad king an item that he has never seen before, then the bad
king will take all of the good king’s gold.
Ben then comes up with a plan that might help the good king keep his
gold.
The
Wish Sack
One day, an old man meets up with Ben and decided to
give Ben a small wish sack that will grant anyone’s wishes. Ben was happy with receiving such a gift, but
he did not notice that the bad king had witnessed all of this and the bad king
decided to steal the sack from Ben. So, the bad king sent his soldiers to Ben’s
house and had them steal Ben’s wish sack. Ben tried to go after the soldiers to
get his sack back, but the good king came by and told Ben to wait until
nightfall so that they could properly enact a plan to get the wish sack back.
Wow! I never would have thought that I would find another
children’s book from Beginner Books that
would be just as good as Dr. Seuss’ works! Benjamin
Elkin has done an excellent job at writing this book as while it is not done
in a rhyming style that is synonymous with Dr.
Seuss’ works, the narrative is still creatively done! I loved the fact that the narrative is both fluffy
and intense at the same time as you have light hearted scenes with the King and
Ben spending time with each other, while having darker scenes with the bad king
causing problems for Ben and the good King.
I loved Ben himself as he is such a clever and friendly little boy who
is willing to help out the King with his problems. Ben’s relationship with the King is probably the
main highlight of this book as the good King has complete trust in Ben’s judgement
on certain affairs and Ben would do anything to help the King with his
problems. Katherine Evans’ artwork is adorable to look at as all the characters
are drawn in an old-fashioned way that is reminiscent of stories like “The Little
House” and “Mike Mulligan,” giving you a sort of nostalgic feel to the whole
story.
Overall, “The
Big Jump” is a truly fantastic book for children who love reading about
kings and learning about the importance of friendship. I would recommend this book to children ages
four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book, unless the scenes
with the bad king might be a bit intense for some smaller children.
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