Book Summary:
Jumanji is the story of a brother and sister who find themselves bored one night when their parents are out. As they begin to play a board game they brought home from the park, they find themselves in a game they have not planned for. Each move of the game brings with it a new and exciting jungle experience. The trouble is... they can not stop playing until one player reaches the end of the board. This creates chaos and fear in the children, however, they are able to finish the game in time for their parents to come home to a normal setting. No one even knows of the experience except the children, who left the game for someone else to find in the park.
APA Reference of Book:
Van Allsburg, C. (2011). Jumanji. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.
Impressions:
My first impression of this book was that the illustrations are incredibly realistic. They almost look like photographs they are so detailed. They enhance the story tremendously as they allow the reader to truly envision what is taking place in the story. The black and white is striking and allows the reader to see every shadow and shade.
The story itself is simple but draws on the imagination in ways most kids are looking for. It is the kind of story which surpasses generations as any kid desires to imagine the unlikely come to life in front of their eyes. The fact that their is a game attached to the storyline only helps to create a sense of urgency and competition. The ending seems a bit unexplained, but perhaps that was the intention. The boys with the game under their arms racing home leaves the reader to wonder which home are they running to. Could they perhaps be headed back to where the protagonists are, forcing this experience on them twice?
All in all, this story, with its detailed illustrations, is one every children's library should include. It is one which is easy to love for a child and that is huge for a library collection.
Professional Review:
Jumanji appears to be a perfectly ordinary game, except that it has been abandoned in the park with the cryptic message “fun for some but not for all.” Peter and Judy unfold the playing board and with the first throw of the dice discover that each moved immediately introduces a corresponding jungle phenomenon into their surroundings — a ravenous lion, marauding monkeys, a bewildered guide, an erupting volcano. Tension mounts with each addition, for the play rules state that once Jumanji is begun, it will not be over until one player reaches the Golden City. At the climactic moment Judy completes the last move. The surreal background disappears; the game is hastily returned to its original site; and two exhausted but undaunted children sleepily welcome the homecoming adults, who naturally dismiss the afternoon’s adventure as simply a dream. Meanwhile, Jumanji has been resurrected once more by a pair of curious, though less tenacious, youngsters. Substance or shadow, real or imagined, the bizarre and mythical world of Jumanji exists because of its own logic and the luminous precision of the full-page, black-and-white illustrations. Through the masterly use of light and shadow, the interplay of design elements, and audacious changes in perspective and composition, the artist conveys an impression of color without losing the dramatic contrast of black and white. As in The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (Houghton), he successfully explores the semimagical country of the the mind in which reality and illusion exist as conjoined yet distinct entities.
Reference:
Review of Jumanji, by C. Van Allsburg. (1981). Horn Book. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/2013/10/news/awards/horn-book-reviews-caldecott-medal-winners-1980-1989/
Library Uses:
This text could be used to inspire students to use their imaginations as they read. The librarian could read the story without showing the students the illustrations and ask the students to draw what they see in their minds as the story is read. Once the students have done this, the librarian could offer the original illustrations and discuss with the students if it was what they imagined.
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