Customer Reviews

The Great Paper Caper

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THERE IS AN AIRPLANE CONTEST IN TOWN! Well, in the book at least. It seems that an undercover bear has a plan to win. Meanwhile groups of forest animals are suspicious, branches on trees are disappearing. This leads them to an investigation. No matter how hard they try, no clues can be found in the whole forest. In a little house, the bear is making blue prints of paper airplanes. I would like to tell you the rest but that would very much give it away. I don't think anyone would like to read this book anymore.
Oliver Jeffers, he is very creative. The Incredible book eating boy. Who would think of that? Oliver Jeffers, of course. His imagination grows right before our eyes! My opinion, why on earth would you pass up any of his books? It is a gift to have an imagination like his. His books seem to have that fun sort if theme to them.
These Drawings, they're AMAZING. What I like about them the most is the humor. Most people like to laugh, so why not read this book? I mean, a group of animals are trying to figure out a crime scene. They even set up a whole inspection! I suggest you read this book. Like I said, who wouldn't?--Sara D. (5th Grader)

I am a huge fan of Oliver Jeffers' work. I love the way he uses collage and illustration to achieve not only a narrative but also a feel. This is one of my favorite books of his, with mild eco undertones as well as problem solving and conflict resolution. All that being said I think the simplest explination is it is a fun cute story.

Oliver Jeffers is one of my favorite author/illustrators! We own almost all of his books and love every single one. Each story is so fun to read and the illustrations are so much fun! This story is one of my favorites of his...especially at this age of conservation of our resources. Great conversation starter if I choose...otherwise, a great story just for fun!

While this isn't his favorite book, my son still loves this book and asks for it at least once a week.

'How to Catch a Star' and 'Lost and Found' are better, but if you have them already you will not regret getting this too.

I wish all these books were available in 'board' format, but alas they aren't. The large format with heavy paper stock pages means that you have to ensure your toddlers don't get their hands on them, or they will soon be ruined. I have the above two in board format, and they are much more convenient like that.

The main thing that makes this weaker than the titles mentioned above is that it uses additional text 'hidden' in the pages, so you don't have a straightforward repeatable narrative unless you skip that stuff. There are also pages with no text at all, that require explanation. While these features make the book more 'arty' they don't necessarily improve it as a book for small children. Toddlers seem to enjoy repetition and predictable experiences. My son knows books like 'The Gruffalo' and 'Lost and Found' off by heart, and will repeat them with me as I read, but he has never done that with this one.

There's also a lack of a distinct character to relate to: the bear doesn't really get to say anything until the end, and the other characters are vague ciphers at best. That's not to say that kids won't like the bear character or be interested in him, but they don't really get enough to satisfy their curiosity.

The above defects aside, this is one of the better books out there, but it might be more suitable for children approaching school age, who are equipped to appreciate some of the detail in it - or you may find it too simple for them - I'm not quite sure what audience it's aimed at, and I think that lack of focus is what stops it being a big hit like 'The Gruffalo'.

My son was also very interested in the idea of people living underneath trees, but this isn't really developed into much. There are certainly some fun ideas in here: a good book, but not a great one.

At our house, this is one of those books that mom and dad get asked to read over and over. The adults should be sick of it by now...except we are not. Jeffers has done a great job of creating a book that is equally appealling to children and adults, a task which is, I am sure, no small feat. His sense of humor shines through with little jokes peppered throughout the book, endpapers and dust jacket. Be sure to take the time to read those endpapers and the inside of the dust jacket - very entertaining!

The disc included with this book is AMAZING! I was somewhat disappointed with how long it took to get through the narration of The Way Back Home, but this one is at a perfect pace and has great sound effects.

Everyone was nestled beneath the ground in their forest homes keeping busy and minding their own business, but when they all got together they noticed that there were some odd things going on. Beaver noticed that some of the branches had been hacked from the trees and that didn't set right with him, nor the rest of the crowd. Soon they started to blame each other. The beaver, the goose, the pig, the little girl and the owl were soon at odds with one another. Something would have to be done to solve this mystery or there would be big trouble!

Someone was stealing the branches, but it wasn't anyone they knew. Poor owl went to land on a branch during the night and PLOP . . . he landed right on his head. They all branched out to work on this crime. "An investigation was launched to get to the bottom of things." Meanwhile, the branches kept disappearing, but something else was showing up. Paper airplanes. "Then an eyewitness report led them to some evidence that had blown in not far away." A moose had seen a paper airplane flying in the forest. What could this mean? Would the forest crowd be able to solve this perplexing mystery?

This is a fun, quirky little mystery that the budding detective between the ages of four and seven will certainly enjoy. This beginning whodunit would be a perfect circle time or homeschool read-aloud book and will generate a bit of excitement as the children try to guess who the culprit is and the mystery behind the vanishing branches. In the endpages there is a guide to making a paper airplane, but younger children will need some help with this activity. This is a perfect book for your budding amateur sleuth!

Oliver Jeffers is an odd duck. This is a statement that should surprise no one. The man simply has a very distinctive way of looking at the world. Labeling his style doesn't seem to work either. For a while there he was sort of the average-boy-meets-small-friendly-creature author/illustrator thanks to Lost and Found and The Way Back Home. But then you have his other titles to contend with. His How to Catch a Stars. His The Incredible Book-Eating Boys. I often find that I can fill up these reviews simply by comparing a certain author/illustrator to similar artists working in similar fields. Unfortunately for me, if Jeffers has been unduly influenced by one artist or another, I'm sorry but I can't figure out who that might be. Oliver Jeffers is, as I have said before, an odd duck. And we wouldn't have him any other way. The Great Paper Caper is proof enough of that.

There is a mystery lurking in these woods. It started small enough. Local forest denizens hardly even noticed when the first branches of their trees started to disappear. When the trees themselves started to go, however, it was time to do some serious detective work. At long last something was found near a crime scene; a paper airplane. A paper airplane with the paw prints of the local bear all over it. And sure as shooting when the animals check it out they see that the bear has been turning a plethora of wood into paper airplanes in a vain attempt to live up to the paper airplane stardom of his ancestors. After a full confession and an outpouring of sincere regret the bear is sentenced to a replanting of the trees and his fellow animals find a way to help him come to terms with his paper airplane legacy.

Stories of industrious lumberjack bears do not initially sound particularly British. Close inspection of Jeffers's illustrations (and they all deserve close inspection, you know) show that the man is prone to particularly British moments. Note the judge's wig. Or the red telephone booth into which the other animals climb. These all are merely indicative of Jeffers's love of tiny details. Since he's not an intricate artist like Peter Sis there's a temptation to write off the art of Jeffers as straightforward and plain. Take a closer look at the book, however, and all kinds of tiny slights and thought out whiffs of detail catch the eye. Things like the bear's Mark Spitz-ish ancestor who was a paper airplane winner in 1972. Or, even more subtle, the final image where the bear merrily water a tree, a single bare light bulb glowing in his trailer, not thirty yards away.

Going back to the style of the artist, Jeffers has always had a weakness for critters and creatures that toddle about on two thin stick-like legs. He avoided it with the penguin in Lost and Found, which was only right since penguins are meant for waddling, not toddling. Generally it is a look that has suited his small animals and people quite well. So it was strange to look through this book a second time and see that the bear, of all creatures, also sports a pair of legs that resemble nothing so much as a pair of well-spaced dowel rods. And while that might be considered distracting to some you really don't notice it, apart from that image on the cover. An unexpected look, certainly, but one that fits within the rest of the book without any problems.

I do appreciate that the bear doesn't actually, y'know, WIN or anything at the end. Jeffers ends the book on a note of triumph that doesn't actually say, "and then the bear won the contest." In the end, all the other animals recycle the bear's discarded, defunct airplanes and turn them into a humungous airplane (love the fact that it's still lined paper) and he rides it in style to the finish line. Which is all well and good, but that fortunately isn't the same thing as saying that he actually won or anything. I mean, it's pretty clear from the get-go that the bear is a lamentable paper airplane pilot. His creations fail with a kind of unceasing certainty that is somewhat reassuring in this crazy madcap universe we live in. If he were to suddenly win of his own accord or, worse, thanks to his new friends' intervention, that would be despicable. As it stands, Jeffers takes the clever middle road and all is well and right with the world.

The book doesn't have quite the same emotional grip of Lost and Found, Jeffers's best book to date. However, there is much to be said for a picture book as thoroughly amusing and enjoyable as this. If you happen to be in need of a good winter mystery, particularly one that the small tots reading with you will be able to solve on their own, I can't think of a better title to hand you. Purely enjoyment from start to finish.