SkippyJon Jones [Hardcover]

Judy Schachner (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 15, 2003 | Age Range: 5 - 8 years | Series: Skippyjon Jones

Move over, Eloise and Olivia. Make room for SkippyjonJones, a Siamese kittenboy who can't resign himself to being an ordinary cat. Having a time-out in his room, he resorts to his imagination. Taking on the superhero persona of the great Spanish sword fighter Skippito, he has the adventure of his life, and readers are invited along. Zany, wild, and over-the-top, this utterly original book truly begs to be read aloud.

With the jiggly, effervescent outlines she used in I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, the smudgy, tender expressiveness of The Grannyman, and a text worthy of a sitcom, Judith Byron Schachner has created a new cat character for all ages. ¡Olé!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This is a wildly wonderful book about a hyperactive kitten, Skippyjon Jones, whose head and ears are too big for his body, and whose imagination is too intense for his mama. According to her, he needs to do some serious thinking about what it means to be a Siamese cat instead of a bird (Skippyjon always wakes up and eats worms with his feathered friends). She sends him to his room, where he imagines he is a Chihuahua ("My name is Skippito Friskito./I fear not a single bandito"). Chock-full of rhyming chants and Spanish expressions, the feline's adventure as a doggy Zorro ends in chaos. His frazzled mother gives him a hug anyway and says, "Say good night, Skippyjon Jones." "Buenas noches, mis amigos," says the kitten, as he bounces on his bed all ready for another adventure. The buoyant and colorful cartoon illustrations match the exuberant text perfectly. Spanish-speaking children will be especially delighted by the words and humor; others may be a little bewildered by all of the foreign phrases and will need some explanation, but the story definitely has the potential of a fun read-aloud. A good multicultural offering.
Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
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About the Author

Judith Byron Schachner lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Age Range: 5 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; Rei/Com edition (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525471340
• ISBN-13: 978-0525471349
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 10.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (258 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ay, caramba! A hard book to beat-o! January 5, 2004

By Carter L. Wiecking

Format:Hardcover

"Skippyjon Jones" is so good on so many levels. It may just be the perfect children's book. No, the Platonic IDEAL of what a children's book should be...I'm that enamored of it!
First, the plot is hilarious. Skippyjon is a Siamese cat with a fantastic imagination. His mother scolds him for being so un-catlike and sends him to his room "to think about what it means to be a Siamese cat." But of course Skippyjon doesn't think for long. His imagination takes over and poof! He's a famous sword-fighting chihuahua off on an adventure in old Mexico. He defeats Alfredo Buzzito, "el blimpo bumblebeeto bandito" and wins back all the beans Buzzito has stolen from Los Chimichangos, a band of desert-dwelling chihuahuas. And of course the noise of this adventure eventually brings him back to reality, with his mother and sisters scolding him again, but in such a fond and loving way that we're left feeling only their affection for the little kitty-boy scamp.
Next, there are the pictures. Young readers and experienced readers both will enjoy the very funny illustrations, which include clues about just how Skippyjon GETS those wild ideas.
Finally, there is the diction. The language in this book is inspired. It rollicks. It rolls. It plays with the audience, teases and tickles and delights little ears. And "holy guacamole," it sure is fun to read aloud!
Thank you, Judith Schachner!

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars the most fun we've had in a long time! August 23, 2006

By Robert W. Smith VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

schachner's book is superb! while it is, technically, a children's book, it is one of the very favorites of both my wife and me (and our daughter)! the details of the plot are discussed by other reviewers accurately and completely. as my introduction to schachner's work, i've searched out her other work. while it is hilarious, clever, and pictorially very appealling, the thing that is most important to me is that it makes the time that i get to spend with our children reading more fun than we'd ever imagined it could be (and we're all avid readers). there could be some out there who could be offended on the grounds that it could be seen as politically incorrect. i don't. i find it a terrific book, i'd give it 6 stars if amazon allowed it, and i think that it is well worth the full purchase price. i hope that schachner continues her creative works.

58 of 72 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Racist? C'mon....get real. October 16, 2008

By A. Gauthier

Format:Audio CD

My 5 year old really enjoys this books with the silly rhymes and play on words. This story is about a child-cat and his imagination. The play on spanish words aren't meant to be racist, it shows how a young kitten (similar in his personality to a young child) may interpret how they hear things. It never shows the spanish chihuahuas as being any kind of bad stereotypes. Just as some Pups in need of a little rescuing from a Zorro style hero.

To me, the books relate to how young ones work into their imaginary play new languages and ideas on culture. Chihuahuas are thought to be spanish, so SkippyJon, a child-cat, will 'interpret' the language and customs in his own way, with what little knowledge he has, while pretending to be a chihuahua.

Also, to reference a particular point someone made on why the book is so stereotypical, the true reason behind adding the -O after words that aren't spanish is NOT done to suggest that it automatically makes a word spanish. Its done to fit into the song rhythm its meant to go with, and to rhyme with other words.

In the end, if you are concerned about it, teach your child the true customs and explain that the book is about word play between english and spanish, and is make believe and silly. Or, of course, don't read the book at all. But don't be so self-righteous as to denounce the book as racist, because racist is an ugly term that these playful books do not deserve.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun to Read Aloud June 2, 2007

By J. Allen

Format:Hardcover

This book was so much fun to read aloud! My 4 year old son liked it and I just LOVED it from an adult perspective. My children are 1/4 Mexican, and I did not have a problem reading it to them.

Some of the other reviewers have said it is "racist", I am assuming because Skippyjon uses a Mexican accent when he is pretending to be "El Skippito". The accent is cute in this context, not degrading, and I consider myself overly sensitive to racism because all of my three children are multi-ethnic (African-American, Mexican, and Japanese between them).

I would also like to add that I have been to readings by Mexican-American writers who used the same Mexican accent as Skippyjon when presenting their own work. This was not their normal accent, but they used it as a device for creating a certain "feel" that was appropriate to the piece they were reading. The one that I am thinking of was about a famous Mexican "bandito", so Schachner's use of it seemed totally appropriate here, since that is exactly who Skippyjon is trying to imitate.

Overall, this is a wonderful book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, fun, fun! March 15, 2012

By Sammy's Mom

Format:Hardcover

I read this book to my four-year-old who loved it. What did he love about it? The rhyming words. The adventure. The kitten who bounces on his bed and gets into mischief. What did I love about it? My kid learning that a fiesta is a party, and a siesta is a nap or a rest in the middle of the day. He's a four-year-old, so he totally gets what a rest in the middle of the day is all about. He was delighted that Skippyjon Jones was speaking Spanish "just like Dora and Diego!" and that he was having adventures. He was excited to find that rhyming is fun in all languages. Skippyjon Jones has him asking me when he can learn the rest of the words in Spanish!

I'm saddened by the reviewers who are so up in arms about the "blatant racism" and "overt stereotyping" in this book. I guess I don't think so hard about racism that I see it everywhere like some of those folks. What I see here is a story about a cute little kitten who goes on an adventure and uses what little he knows about Spanish to imagine a great story. The rest is an open door for parents to talk to their kids about finding out about different cultures and learning from one another.