Customer Reviews

Jim, Who Ran Away from His Nurse, and Was Eaten by a Lion

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I stumbled across this book while buying supplies for the "literature center" in my PreK classroom. The school director gave me a funny look when I showed it to her, but the children adored it. It incited tons of snickers and giggles, followed by whispers, pointing fingers, and more laughter. I've found that this book has the same effect on adults, lol. Definately a must-read.

The illustrations are wonderful... just wait until you get to the part where Jim is *actually eaten by the lion*...that naughty boy. :)

Enjoy!

Hilaire Belloc and Mini Grey's JIM: A CAUTIONARY TALE provides a series of pull-outs, pop-ups and fold-out fun to spice the story of a disobedient boy. Parents and kids especially will relish this picture book about a boy who leads a boring life - until he is loosed at the zoo to find freedom and danger.

Hilaire Belloc originally penned the now-classic cautionary tale Jim in 1907. The poem was intended to be a a satirical response to the morality tales that were popular for children in Victorian times. Updated with fabulous illustrations by Mini Grey, this poem is just as enjoyable now as it certainly was over 100 years later. I'm so impressed that Mini Grey didn't make any changes to the original poem. It is her style and presentation that give this such a fresh look. The pages come alive with lovely pop-ups and secret pull tabs hidden about.

A spoiled little boy named Jim gets everything he could possibly want. He has strict instructions to stay with his nanny, but slips away every chance he gets. One day at the zoo, Jim pulls this exact trick ... and is snapped up by a lion, quick as a wink. The zookeeper makes a move to assist, but being quite heavy, he does not move too swiftly. When he does arrive, he is greeted by a dead boy. bim's mother is not particularly broken up, and points out they had reminded him time after time not to roam. His father seizes the opportunity to use the zoo mauling to create an example for the other children. He even makes up a posterboard with a crudely drawn disembodied head.

The lion practically pops off the page, and you can peep inside the chocolate bar to see the gooey, pink filling. Most impressive in the map of the zoo that unfolds into six quadrants, yet remains attached to the book. Lots of funny signs and (Do not stroke the snakes) and clever details are tucked in here. In all, a classic poem gets a fabulous update by being made into a super fun and interactive book.

I grew up on this poem. My mother had it memorized, and we used to beg her to recite it for us. Accordingly, this book is her Little Christmas present. I've borrowed it back.

Now, there's always somebody who comments that little things like dead children are inappropriate for, well, children. If you're one of those people - don't buy this book, save the rest of us the angst. Jim DOES get eaten by a lion, there IS no happy ending, you HAVE been warned. If you're still unsure, the poem is in the public domain, so you can google it and pre-read before you buy.

With that said, since the poem IS available at Project Gutenberg and elsewhere, I'm not going to spend much effort reviewing the text. It's gory and over-the-top and the reaction of the parents when finding about their dead child ("Well, he'd never do as he were told!") is hilariously understated. It's the sort of thing impressionable young children beg their parents to recite over and over again on the train.

Let's talk about the art, though. This is a pop-up book, the pop-ups and flaps seem *reasonably* sturdy (but I'm not pulling at them THAT hard). There are plenty of funny details hidden in the art. For example, the line "They even took him to the zoo. But there it was a dreadful fate befell him, which I now relate" is written on a fold-out map (safely glued to the page, you won't be losing it) of the zoo, with the bylaws on the other side. The map is full of signs along the lines of "It's your own time you're wasting" and "Do not stroke the snakes", and the bylaws have a similarly long-winded list of rules, including "Strictly no ostentatious mating displays" and "No silly voices".

And of course, there's the scene where he gets eaten, which is where flaps really come in handy. First you have the little boy, and then you pull the flap and the boy is eaten but the words remain.

It's clever, it's funny, it's a classic poem - I may buy another for me. And it probably won't warp your kids for life. I, after all, am mostly sane :)

it's fun to watch their faces and see if they (the kids) look shocked or
laugh