Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High! by John Fardell
| Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High! by John Fardell | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
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| Summary: A delightful tale of a jellyfish who's tired of drifting aimlessly. A great plot, punchy writing, and engaging illustrations make it a joy from start to finish. Highly recommended. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: July 2010 |
| Publisher: Andersen Press | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1849390149 | |
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Jeremiah Jellyfish is drifting aimlessly through life. He's bored of doing nothing in the great big jellyfish shoal. With a bit of geeing up from his granddad, he strikes out on his own, meets a high-powered businessman, swaps jobs, and becomes an executive in a rocket plane company. As jellyfish do, obviously.
Ignore my bad precis that makes Jeremiah Jellyfish sound like a rabidly pro-capitalist tome. It's not. It's a super tale that I absolutely loved. I was hooked from the early pages, introducing Jeremiah and his family, as small pictures build up and up to reveal a huge jellyfish shoal. Seeing Jeremiah break out from his mundane life is delightful, as is the businessman taking a much-needed break.
The writing is clear, direct and engaging. It's a little longer than the average picture book, making it ideal for older kids who are learning to read for themselves. Its crisp plot, warm heart, light humour and lashings of excitement mean young book fans of any age will be drawn in. It's beautifully paced, with a deeply satisfying ending.
John Fardell's illustrations marry perfectly with his text, and run the gamut from empty, peaceful seascapes, to bustling cities that are a joy to pore over. It was a bold choice to start the book with seven pages of similar jellyfish pictures, but it works amazingly well. It's a lovely, well-rounded book that you'll love as much as I did. Highly recommended.
My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.
We also loved John Fardell's earlier book Manfred The Baddie, which is as funny and enjoyable as Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High! For more underwater fun, check out Shark and Lobster's Amazing Undersea Adventure by Viviane Schwarz. It's a non-fiction book aimed at older children, but Will Jellyfish Rule the World? by Leo Hickman is also well-worth a look.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High! by John Fardell at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High! by John Fardell at Amazon.com.
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