Jamaica Tag-Along [Hardcover]

Juanita Havill (Author), Anne Sibley O'Brien (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Jamaica doesn't want a younger child to play with her, until she remembers how she felt when her older brother excluded her from his games.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This sequel to Havill and O'Brien's first collaboration, Jamaica's Find , is as sensitive and charming as its predecessor. In this story, Jamaica's feelings are hurt when her older brother Ossie won't let her tag along to his basketball game. But when a younger child disrupts Jamaica's building of a sand castle, she realizes that she is just as impatient with him as Ossie is with her. In this way, Jamaica learns to "do unto others" not by explicit instruction but by experience. Children of Jamaica's age are themselves just beginning to develop a moral awareness, will appreciate Havill's convincing portrayal of Jamaica's dilemma. O'Brien's watercolors are extraordinarily lifelike and tender. She has a rare gift for capturing the many nuances of expression; her illustrations lend an extra dimension of compassion to the story. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"This simple but important lesson is attractively illustrated in realistic watercolors." Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (March 27, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395496020
• ISBN-13: 978-0395496022
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 9.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,351,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lets the Reader Discover the Golden Rule, April 3, 2000

By 

ROY P ALLEN - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jamaica Tag-Along (Paperback)

Jamaica feels sad that her older brother and friends won't let her join in their play. When she turns to play of her own, a younger child wants to join her. At first Jamaica refuses, then she remembers that she doesn't like to be excluded and includes the younger child. My 5-year-old enjoys this story, with its appealing pictures and accessible language. The author shows respect for the reader by not explicitly pointing out the similariity between the two situations, leaving it to the reader to discover the Golden Rule in practice.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute Story with Good Illustrations, November 28, 2005

By 

Library Gaga (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jamaica Tag-Along (Paperback)

A sweet story featuring a young African American girl and her older brother. Jamaica wants to tag along to Ossie's pick-up basketball game, but he forbids it. After all, it's not cool to have a younger sister hanging around. She sneaks along anyway, and causes her brother and another player to fall down on the court when she springs from nowhere and grabs the ball. She exits to another section of playground.

Castle building proves diverting, but soon she has a little visitor. A Hispanic American toddler named Berto wants to play, too, and is soon messing up the castle. Initially, Jamaica protests, but then sees the similarity between them. They both want to hang out with older kids.

O'Brien's watercolor illustrations are attractive and effective with their warmth and sharply conveyed emotions. This would be a good read aloud to pre-K to second grade.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How to learn to get along, February 13, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Jamaica Tag-Along (Paperback)

It's a very good book and it can really teach you how sometimes people can be mean to you, and you can put your anger on others, but this book teaches you how that's not a good thing to do. I also think it's a very good book because there are very nice characters, and Jamaica has a very big problem and she learns how to solve it. When Jamaica puts her anger on a little 3-year-old, he accidentally steps on her sand castle, and she says not-nice things to him. But then she thinks that those things would hurt feelings; her big brother always says those things, and she doesn't like it at all, so she plays with the 3-year-old and it makes the 3-year-old feel better. Meanwhile, Jamaica's big brother Ossie is playing basketball with his friends. After he finishes, he comes over to Jamaica and the 3-year-old and is amazed at their sand castle. He asks, "Need some help?" And Jamaica says, "If you want to." So all three of them are all making the sand castle and Jamaica never minds if Ossie tags along.