Jazper

Egielski, Richard

ISBN 10: 0060279990 ISBN 13: 9780060279998

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1998

Synopsis

The Amazing Jazper, as he prefers to be called, is pretty proud of himselfwhile house-sitting for some evil moths, he reads their books of magic spells, and learns how to transmorph. He is now his own side show, and charges the other bugs in bugtown money to see him change into a crayon, a bubble, even a sour a pickle, all to great applause. But the moths are NOT amused, and decide they must rid themselves of the competition. What follows is a morph war that moves at breakneck speed--Jazper does his famous sour pickle, and the moths show up as knives. He turns into a nut, and the moths become nutcrackers. Can Jazper outwit the evil moths? Will he give up magic forever? Does water put out fire?

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Egielski is the Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator of Hey, Al and many other books for children, including the Tub People series by Pam Conrad. He is also the author and illustrator of Buz and Jazper, both New York Times Best Illustrated Books, Three Magic Balls, and The Gingerbread Boy. Mr. Egielski lives in Milford, New Jersey, with his wife and son.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this quirky tale of a miniature Bugtown, Egielski (The Gingerbread Boy) pictures talking insects and a twinge of magic. Jazper is a green boy-insect with a pointy Pinocchio nose and bright, wide eyes. He uses his top two digits as arms and walks on his other four legs. He and his father live in "a rented eggshell on the south side of Bugtown," while their neighbors occupy single tin cans and high-rise cereal boxes. The trouble begins when Dad gets injured on the job, and Jazper sets out to make some money with a job house-sitting for "five weird moths" (they wear white robes and resemble samurai warriors). While the moths are away, Jazper reads their sorcery tomes and learns to perform magical transformations. Three weeks later, the moths return and Jazper tries his luck as a street performer, changing himself into a skinny sky-blue crayon or a fat pickle. Although the moths never forbade Jazper to borrow from their library, they somehow are angered by his feats and come after him with a vengeance. All the action is well realized visually. Egielski, like William Joyce, borrows from early animation and uses punchy color in the foreground, hazier shades in the distance. In the fantasy metropolis, a girl mosquito flits through the air, a caterpillar hogs the road and commuting beetles sit aboard a dragonfly's long tail. With this fabulous backdrop, Egielski doesn't require such a convoluted plot. His lackluster story seems only a frame for his singularly evocative images. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0060279990
• ISBN 13: 9780060279998
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Egielski Richard