[BOOK REVIEW] The Big Jump and Other Stories by Benjamin Elkin

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.

You might also like:

• Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss

• The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

• Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss

[BOOK REVIEW] Madeline and the Bad Hat by Ludwig Bemelmans

Title:  Madeline and the Bad Hat

Author:  Ludwig Bemelmans

Genre:  France / Friendship / Manners 

Year Published: 1956

Year Read: 1993

Series:  Madeline #3

Publisher: The Viking Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Some Mild Violence and Mischievous Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“Madeline and the Bad Hat” is another book created by Ludwig Bemelmans’ famous “Madeline” collection (and was also transformed into an episode for the “Madeline” cartoon series) that details Madeline’s adventures in France.  This time, Madeline meets up with Pepito, the Bad Hat, who causes trouble for Madeline and the other girls.  This book might be the darkest of all the “Madeline” books, but its exciting storyline and cute illustrations make up for that. 

Ludwig Bemelmans does an excellent job on both illustrations and writing Madeline’s newest adventure.  Ludwig Bemelmans writes the story in a rhyming text, the most memorable lines being: 

“And lo and behold, the former Barbarian, 
turned into a vegetarian.” 
  
Ludwig Bemelmans chooses his words carefully to make sure that the story moves along smoothly without making the rhyming text sound like nonsense.  Ludwig Bemelmans’ illustrations are also highlighted in this book as he draws the characters in simplistic yet colorful images.  I especially like the way that he makes some of the images be shown in yellow and white coloring and some images where he uses all types of colors such as the image where he shows the landscape of Paris. 

Parents should know that there are some violent and sad scenes in this book.  Children might see the scenes where Pepito cuts off the chickens’ heads and eats them (even though we do not see the chickens’ heads being cut off but we do see a guillotine and chickens being dragged by their necks towards the guillotine) and the scene where he is attacked by dogs (this is more graphic as we see dogs jumping on top of Pepito) as both sad and violent.  Parents who do not want their children to be exposed to this type of violence might want to skip these pages to avoid any discomfort from the children. 

“Madeline and the Bad Hat” is one of the most deep and darkest of all the “Madeline” books, but is also a cute story about the consequences of being bad and how one can redeem his or herself if they have done horrible things to other people such as Pepito trying to make things right after his bad behavior.  I would strongly recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the smaller children being a bit worried about the violent and sad scenes displayed in this book.

 You might also like:

• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

• Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans

• No, David! by David Shannon

[BOOK REVIEW] Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown

Title:  Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper

Author:  Marcia Brown

Genre: Fairy Tale / Fantasy / Royalty

Year Published: 1954

Year Read: 2010

Publisher:   Charles Scribner's Sons

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Mistreatment of a Child)

Buy on:  Amazon  // Book Depository

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is the winner of the Caldecott Medal and is one of the earlier books by Marcia Brown that retells the French fairy tale “Cinderella” about how a miserable girl named Cinderella tries to go to the grand ball with the help of her fairy godmother.  “Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is clearly one of Marcia Brown’s most memorable books yet!

Marcia Brown has indeed created many children’s books throughout her life.  Imagine my surprise and excitement when I read her first children’s book!  Marcia Brown has made this version of Cinderella much more tame than in the other versions of “Cinderella” I have seen as Cinderella’s stepsisters in this version seem a bit nicer to Cinderella by easily telling Cinderella about their time at the ball, although they still maintained their cruel nature by teasing Cinderella about not going to the ball, which is a bit unusual for in most versions that I have read of “Cinderella,” the stepsisters were always mean to Cinderella regardless of the situation that Cinderella was in.  Marcia Brown’s illustrations are truly beautiful and simplistic in this version of the classic fairy tale as Cinderella truly looks beautiful with her wavy golden hair and beautiful black eyes.  Also, the illustrations are a bit simplistic due to the fact that there is barely any color in the background, but the color is mainly focused on the characters, which allows the characters to stand out more, which I have never seen done in any other book that have simplistic illustrations.

“Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper” is a brilliant retelling of the classic fairy tale that I think will be more suitable to children who want to read the more tame version of the fairy tale and will be a great hit for children everywhere.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book other than the stepsisters’ poor behavior towards Cinderella.

* 1955 Caldecott Medal

You might also like:

• The Water of Life by Barbara Rogasky

• The Six Servants by Brothers Grimm
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs retold by Randall Jarrell

[BOOK REVIEW] One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey

Title:  One Morning in Maine

Author:  Robert McCloskey

Genre:  Family / Childhood / Growing Up / Travel

Year Published: 1952

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: The Viking Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“One Morning in Maine” is a Caldecott Honor Book from the great mind of Robert McCloskey and it is about how a young girl named Sal learns about the wonders of growing up after she loses her first baby tooth.  “One Morning in Maine” is a truly inspiring story about growing up that many children will easily love.

Robert McCloskey has done an excellent job at both illustrating and writing this book.  Robert McCloskey’s illustrations are much more beautiful in this book than in his other books as the characters look so realistic and Sal’s expressions as she realizes that she has a loose tooth are extremely realistic as she expresses shock and pure excitement, like any child who has a loose tooth and they are sometimes scared because they are worried about the pain if their baby tooth comes loose and the pure excitement they exhibit as they see their baby tooth come out.  Robert McCloskey’s illustrations are also in black and white, giving this story an old fashioned feeling while also making this book more effective in displaying the characters’ emotions, as the characters expressions are realistic.  Robert McCloskey makes this story extremely cute and inspiring a the same time as Sal tries to figure out the meaning of growing up after she looses her tooth and many children will easily relate to Sal’s emotions about her loose tooth as many children have often lose their baby teeth and they usually have feelings of fear and excitement as they fear that they will feel pain when their baby teeth will fall out and feel excitement as they experienced the joys of growing up.

Parents should know that this book might be a tad bit too long for smaller children to handle as the book is about sixty-pages long and parents might want to read the first thirty pages one night and then the next thirty pages the next night so that children would not be easily bored by this book.

“One Morning in Maine” is a fantastic book about the wonders of growing up and will be an instant classic for many children who also experience the wonders of a loose baby tooth.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since smaller children might become bored with the length of this book.

* 1953 Caldecott Honor

[BOOK REVIEW] Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey

Title: Time of Wonder

Author:  Robert McCloskey

Genre:  Family / Nature / Weather / Poetry / Exploration

Year Published: 1957

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: The Viking Press

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (One Intense Scene involving a Hurricane)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

When I first read this book as a child, I did not really care for this book since I thought that this book was too boring to sit through.  However, when I read this book later on as an adult, I realized that this book was a truly moving book.  “Time of Wonder” is a Caldecott Medal award winning book from the great mind of Robert McCloskey and it is about how a family spends their time on the islands enjoying the beauties of the island.  “Time of Wonder” may seem a bit too boring for smaller children, but it is truly one of Robert McCloskey’s most beautiful and moving books ever created!

Robert McCloskey has done a great job at making the story extremely dreamy and beautiful as he describes the girls’ adventures on the island in a dreamy and poetic fashion, giving the story a beautiful feeling, the type of feeling you get when you go to a wonderful place.  Robert McCloskey’s illustrations are much different in this book than in his other books since the images are actually colored instead of the usual black and white images that he usually uses for most of his books.  Robert McCloskey’s illustrations are truly realistic and beautiful as he shows images of the island showing its beauty towards the two girls.  The images that stood out the most in this book are the images of the ferns growing and the images of the hurricane coming towards the island.  The images with the ferns growing shows the ferns uncurling themselves from the ground, which is truly a beautiful sight and the images of the hurricane coming to the island shows the storm making a strong wind that violently blows at the family’s house and you can see the waves being blown so violently and the family being blown by the wind as the father tries desperately to close the door.

Smaller children might be bored with this book since the beginning is a tad bit too slow and the action does not really come around until the scene of the hurricane coming to the island.  Also, the length of this book is much longer than most picture books and many small children might become bored with this book.  Parents might want to read one section of the book for the first day and then read the second section of the book the next day so that way children would not become so easily bored.

“Time of Wonder” is a beautiful and enchanting book about enjoying the true beauty of nature that will have many children respecting nature so much more.  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up due to the slow beginning.     

*  1958 Caldecott Medal