Jazper by Richard Egielski

This book is about a young bug named Jazper who lives with his father. Jazper comes home one day and finds out that his dad has been injured at work so Jazper must find a job to help pay for the rent. He goes into town and decides to house sit for 5 moths that will be gone for 3 weeks. While he is there he reads books about magic. After 3 weeks, Jazper goes home and shows his dad that through magic, he can turn into things. They decide to have shows and charge money to see the Amazing Jazper. The moths find out and are upset that Jazper read their books so when Jazper turns into a pickle, the moths turn into knives. When Jazper turns into a nut, the moths turn into nutcrackers. When Jazper turns into a paper airplane, the moths turn into burning flames. Before the moths can turn into something else, Jazper turns into a rain cloud and puts out the flames. After all this, Jazper and his father decide that Jazper will just stay himself for awhile.

The first thing I noticed and liked about this book is that Jazper just lives with his father and they have real-life problems such as how to pay the rent. So many stories are about the typical, white, middle-class family but so many children do not live like that. It was refreshing that this book portrayed a family that is very real and that many kids can relate to. I also liked the creativity the author used in turning Jazper and the moths into different things. If Jazper is a paper airplane, then of course the moths would be flames to destroy Jazper. This is a good opportunity to ask kids what else Jazper and the moths could have turned into. For example, if Jazper had turned into a rock, would the moths have turned into jackhammers? This is a good chance for kids to get creative.

The author is also the illustrator and although his illustrations aren't as detailed as I like, he portrayed the characters well. He made the moths look scary and mean which is the way they are supposed to be. And although Jazper and his father are bugs, he made the characters seem very loving. This is a cute book and I would recommend it for ages 2-8.