Jackie is on his way home from school when he discovers that his shadow is gone! Did he lose it just like he lost his lunch pail and math book or could this be the work of the elusive Shadow Snatcher? With the help of his bulldog, Buster, and Mr. Socrates (the smartest man in the world), Jackie attempts a daring rescue to save his shadow from the Shadow Snatcher, who has sinister plans to conceal his crimes under a cloak of stolen shadows. Using a graphic-novel-inspired style for the artwork, Larry Di Fiori has created an old-fashioned caper perfect for keeping five- to eight-year-olds on the edge of their seats.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2–A debut picture book done in a graphic-novel format and set in the 1920s. While Jackie walks home from school, his shadow is stolen from him. Alerted to the theft by his bulldog, Baxter, the boy tries to find it. His elderly friend, Mr. Socrates, helps. They realize that the infamous Shadow Snatcher has escaped from prison and re-embarked on his life of crime. Jackie's shadow is eventually retrieved and the robbers are last seen being chased by the coppers. The boxed black-and-white pencil cartoons give the book a nostalgic tone. There is quite a bit of dialogue, much of which would need to be read aloud to children, and many of the references to mystery-genre conventions will go over their heads. Di Fiori is better at drawing evocative and sophisticated buildings and landscapes than he is at people, and Baxter is the most effectively drawn and animated-looking character. There is a need for comics/graphic novels for younger readers; this one is not a necessary purchase, but may help fill some of that void.–B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
K-Gr. 2. In this picture-book-size graphic novel, Di Fiori uses black-and-white illustrations to tell the story of Jackie, a boy who has lost his lunch pail, his math book, and his shadow. Wise Mr. Socrates tells Jackie that the evil Shadow Snatcher is the thief, and Jackie must confront him to get his shadow back. Accompanied by his faithful dog, Baxter, Jackie goes to the spooky old house across the river to face the Shadow Snatcher and his henchman. Judging by the villains' car, Di Fiori has set his story sometime in the 1920s, and the Shadow Snatcher bears a strong resemblance to an old pulp-fiction hero, the Shadow. While the characters look as though they could be in a Betty Boop cartoon, the scenery is beautifully detailed without overwhelming the panels. Children will care less about that, however, than about the rollicking, old-fashioned adventure, which reads like a comic book, and about Jackie, who presses on despite his fears. Kat Kan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Shadows dark against the wall,
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This review is from: Jackie and the Shadow Snatcher (Hardcover)
When they look back through the annals of time and determine how best to remember 2006, I hope that future historians remember this as The Year of the Stolen Shadows. As of this moment in time I have read FOUR, yes, FOUR children's books that involve the misappropriation of shadows and were published within 4 months of one another. You have your, "Shadow Thieves" by Anne Ursu, your "Peter and the Shadow Thieves" by Dave Barry, "Charlie Bone and the Hidden King" by Jenny Nimmo (which involves a missing shadow from a portrait), and now this. "Jackie and the Shadow Snatcher" is the only book that falls into this rather unique category and is also a picture book. Playing up all kinds of silent movie tropes (to say nothing of radio), it's an amusing middle ground between picture and comic books. Not the most original book of its kind I've ever seen, but nice just the same.
Golly gee willikers! It's bad enough that poor Jackie somehow managed to loose his lunch pail at school today, but did he have to go and loose his shadow as well? It's not like it was his fault, after all. He was just walking home from school when some rapscallion absconded with the shadow that was rightfully his. After consulting with Mr. Socrates, "the smartest man alive", Jackie learns that there's only one villain foul enough to be behind such a crime. Yes folks, The Shadow Snatcher is back in town and he's up to his dastardly tricks. Now Jackie is off to face this terrible foe before his shadow is used for purposes strange and dire. Obviously the comic book format of this book (done in tasteful black and white) is going to be the real lure for any kid that snatches the funny papers from their parents' newspapers every night. Now according to his bookflap bio, Larry DiFiori has apparently, "illustrated over seventy-five books for young readers, eleven of which he also wrote". Odd. I'd admittedly never heard of the fellow before, and a search of him on Amazon yielded few results. That may be because DiFiori has worked primarily as a kind of commercial kids book illustrator. I was a little too happy to discover that one of his illustrated books included, "The Radish Day Jubilee (A Fraggle Rock Book Starring Jim Henson's Muppets)". How awesome is that? I grew up on The Fraggles, so you understand my glee. As far as I can ascertain, this is the biggest publisher DiFiori has worked with and it's certainly the most original product (shadow stealing tropes aside). DiFiori works in all kinds of interesting tips of the hat to old timey silent movies and figures. The Shadow Stealer himself, on the other hand, is the spitting image of that old radio show hero The Shadow. Odd to make him a villain in this fashion. Hm. From the Hamburgler-type crook outfits (all bowler hats, black and white stripes, and eye-only black masks) to his Keystone Cops with their Mickey Mouse gloves, this book is quite the looker indeed. Looker it is. Storywise, it has a ways to go. Basically what we have here is a tale about a boy who is sent to face a hoard of comic villains on his own. Sure, they're silly, but it's odd to see an adult in a book sending a child off INTO danger with the admonishment, "You'll think of something. Just be brave". Um . . . thanks. There are other problems as well. The story is fairly sparse, and that has nothing to do with its comic book format. It seems to be far more interested in chase and action than story and character. Sure it looks like a comic book, but even comic books need to do some good storytelling. I'm being a little hard on this puppy, aren't I? Ah well. There's no denying its rollicking tone and adventurous style. If you're on the lookout for comic-styled picture books, there are plenty out there to choose from. My personal favorite might be Gregory Rogers', "The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, and the Bard". There's also the mighty original, "Seadogs", by Lisa Wheeler or "Sparrowboy" by Brian Pinkney. All of these place format just behind story. I have little doubt that DiFiori will be churning out better and better stuff as time goes by. Definitely a must-have for any comic-styled picture book collection. Worth a gander and a glance.
3.0 out of 5 stars
[...] Book Review,
This review is from: Jackie and the Shadow Snatcher (Hardcover)
In Jackie and the Shadow Snatcher by Larry Di Fiori, Jackie is a boy who keeps losing stuff everywhere he goes. Like many children, Jackie often hears the phrase, "If your head wasn't attached..." .
One day, when walking home from school, Jackie remembers that he has forgotten something. In the midst of his worry, Jackie doesn't notice at all when his shadow disappears! When Jackie gets closer to home, he finally realizes that he has no shadow! He goes to different lighting, but still no shadow! It's time to see Mr. Socrates who tells Jackie of the Shadow Snatcher, a bad guy (similar to a mob boss) who hides behind the shadows that he steals. Jackie must go on a dangerous journey to find and rescue his lost shadow from the Snatcher and his gang. Will he be able to get his shadow back before his mother gets home? The fine illustrations in this book really bring the story to life. All illustrations are in black and white and extremely detailed, making the book seem like an old fashioned comic. - Elaine Russo, [...]
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