Customer Reviews

The World That Jack Built

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I use this book during earth week in my PreK class and the children love it. It is used for it's ability to open up discussion on the decisions we make and the impact in has on our planet. It has the same message as the Lorax which I and my students love without the cartoon drawings so it hits them differently, because they can now relate to it. I get feedback in regards to this lesson from the parents - positive. That their children are speaking about conserving water, fuel or electricity. Talking about recycling or cleaning up their neighborhood or local park to do their part. I did not find that this book scared the 4/5 year olds in my class it empowered them.

This is a well-illustrated book. I have read it several times to the children in my day care home and it has made quite an impact on them. The book has been requested several times and has made them think about caring for the world around them. It has been the topic of discussion between the children and their parents. The story so impressed them that they carried its message home, to work together to keep their world a beautiful place. We loved the story and I am looking for 2 more copies, one to give and one to keep. Congratulations Ms. Brown!

Reading to children is a wonderful thing, but all stories for children, at least at the age this story is directed at, need to have a positive or in the very least hopeful eneding. This story does not. It ends on a sad, depressing endnote meant to shock rather than to teach. What kind of feeling is a child going to get from reading this kind of book?

This appears at first glance to be a well illustrated and pleasant children's story, but it descends into a shockingly unpleasant and heavyhanded anti-industrial pollution parable. Reading this book is like eating an apple and finding half a worm. I can't imagine wanting to share this book with a child.