JUMPY JACK & GOOGILY by Meg Rosoff & Sophie Blackall

Lexile     Not Rated               Pages     32               Ages     3-8

Jumpy Jack is afraid of monsters.  VERY afraid.  He goes through his day always worrying what will be around the corner.  Lucky for him he has his friend Googily who helps him out, looking for the monsters behind the tree, in the shed, and under the bed.  The thing is, Googily IS a monster!  He is also as it turns out, a very kind friend. He looks for all of Jack's monsters, assuring him that there is nothing to fear.  Finally, at the end of the day, relieved of all his fears Jack settles down to go to sleep and Googily asks him, "Will you check under my bed? I think I heard a sock and I am VERY afraid of socks!"

Jumpy Jack & Googily helps make monsters a not so scary thing.  As Jumpy Jack describes what he perceives to be a monster, the young reader will soon realize that Jack is describing his friend to a "T" without ever realizing that Googily is, in fact, a monster.  At the end, Googily's fear of a sock is a funny way to help children realize that most fears are not scary at all, it just depends on how you look at things.

Happy Reading,

Miss Laurie

  Jumpy Jack & Googily can be checked out at any Lake County Public Library, or click here  http://tinyurl.com/cceqf8a and with your library card number and PIN you can place a hold for easy pickup at your favorite branch.