Joey and Jet: Book 1 of Their Adventures (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

James Yang (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)

Joey has a dog.
And a ball.
And a great throwing arm.

Jet has Joey.
And a job to do.
And do.
And do.
And do.

They make a fine pair.

If you were Joey's ball -- the one with
the blue stripe -- you would keep moving
among the birds
through the trees
on the water
down the hill
up the hill
across the street
between the tables
over the roofs
into a hole
and out of a hole
along with Jet, Joey's dog.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2–A young boy and his pup play a game of fetch, moving through a landscape of prepositions along the way. Jet chases the ball through trees, up and down hills, across the street, and into and out of a hole, among other things. Predictably, he brings the ball back to Joey, who starts the preposition run again with a simple command of "fetch!" Touted as the first of their adventures, this book will win fans with its simple text and retro-style illustrations rendered in a non-retro digital pen and ink. Larger public libraries and most school libraries will want to fetch copies for themselves.–Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. Joey (a boy) and Jet (his dog) have a simple adventure that is enhanced by a digital format. Joey, a round-headed kid (think Charlie Brown for the twenty-first century) has a ball. His black-and-white dog (yes, a little Snoopy-like) watches as Joey tosses it. Jet chases it--among the birds, through the trees, on the water, up and down the hill. Jet finally brings the ball back, only to have Joey throw it again. Intensely visual, this also provides a way for children to get the feel of prepositions, which are in boldface, and the way they relate to space: the ball goes between tables and over the roof. But it's the artwork that's the draw here. Using digital pen-and-ink, Yang has created simple yet intriguing landscapes. For instance, trees are black crooked lines overlaid with lime-green leaves set against a mottled-orange background. Groups of tables and chairs are identical, but their 1950s shapes and colors make them standouts. Fun to look at, this is a clever, energetic romp. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books (August 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689869266
• ISBN-13: 978-0689869266
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #576,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 41/2* It Didn't Always Get Through To Me, April 22, 2005

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Joey and Jet: Book 1 of Their Adventures (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

Prize-winning illustrator James Yang's digital pen and ink drawings highlight a book that explains prepositions by showing a dog ("Jet") chasing a ball thrown by Joey. Joey fetches the ball through the trees, up and down a hill, between tables, and into and out of a hole. There's no question that Yang's pictures are superb; he uses compelling textures, colors, and patterns throughout the book. The variety of backgrounds is a mini-textbook in graphic design: He uses repeated patterns, large blocks of color, and modernist 50's design elements on different pages.

Digital rendering can be cold at times, and this is somewhat true here. Many times, the work seems flat and too abstract. However, the colors, action, and use of imperfect, squiggly lines (see the cityscape, for example, though I wish he had used this technique more often) help to reduce this feeling. Unfortunately, the pictures don't always clearly illustrate the book's bolded prepositions and directional words. For example, Joey is show chasing the ball "through the trees," but the stick-figure green-leaved trees are set against a flat orange background that shows no perspective. If a child weren't sure what "through" meant, this book would probably not help much. Similarly, there were problems with the illustrations for "among" (a difficult concept made harder because Jet is way off to the side in a spread cluttered with birds), "into" (directional arrows substitute for Joey actually going "into" something), and "across" (the design is superb 1960's era modern, but the level of abstraction and point of view obscure the action ).

Other drawings are more completely successful (e.g., "on," "over") because they're well-designed, beautiful to look at, and illustrate the bolded word. For the imagery, this is a 5* book. However, readers who want to expand their vocabulary might be slightly disappointed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joey and Jet, November 17, 2004

By 

Betsy Avery - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joey and Jet: Book 1 of Their Adventures (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

What a fun book!! The illustrations are cheerful and the story is so cute! The colors are bright enough to capture a babies attention and the story is written well enough for beginner readers! I am buying several for gifts!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My son & I both loved this book!, November 6, 2008

By 

Mom2_1Bugaboo (AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joey and Jet: Book 1 of Their Adventures (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

He picked this up at the school Library & we both enjoyed this book very much. Quick & easy for him to read.