The Book That Jack Wrote (Viking Kestrel Picture Books) [Hardcover]

Jon Scieszka (Author), Dan Adel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Viking Kestrel Picture Books | Publication Date: February 23, 1995

In this verse, readers meet a rat, a cat, a pieman, a cow, a moon, an egg and a wall as well as other distinguished characters who seem oddly familiar, yet somehow changed.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Scieszka ( The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales ) and Adel lend a few demented twists to familiar nursery verse in this puzzlesome but polished yarn. As in the "House That Jack Built," a cause-and-effect chain is steadily built ("This is the Cat / That ate the Rat / . . . That lay in the book that Jack wrote"). Adel, whose illustrations have appeared in the New York Times , contributes bizarre but virtuosic paintings that evoke Alice in Wonderland by way of Francis Bacon. His Cat, for instance, has unsettlingly human teeth and a wide Cheshire grin from which dangles the unfortunate Rat's tail; a Hatter a la John Tenniel shows up later. Adel's sophisticated compositions, set against white ground, incorporate picture frames that give each portrait a 3-D, lifelike quality. Scieszka's detached narrative seems straightforward at first, but gets weirder as the passage of time goes out-of-whack. When, at the conclusion, a "book that Jack wrote" falls on and flattens a Man, the Man's feet protrude from beneath the book--but those feet were present from the story's first page. Readers who require logic will be stymied; those who appreciate near-Victorian oddities and Escher-like conundrums will tumble right in. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-6-An updated version of "This Is the House That Jack Built," this cumulative tale tells of a blind rat who falls into a picture in the book that Jack wrote, thus setting off a chain of events in which the players are done in one by one until nothing is left but the book itself. The characters are borrowed largely from children's literature-a grinning Cheshiresque cat, a cow jumping over the moon, a pieman at the fair, Humpty Dumpty, and the Mad Hatter-but they bear only a passing resemblance to their traditional forms. Cynical expressions followed by looks of terror are the order of the day as each character meets its fate. The text initially follows the rhythm of the original rhyme; however, as it progresses, the meter changes and the cadence becomes somewhat jarring. The dark tones of Adel's full-page oil paintings are a fine match for the irreverent mood of the piece. The humor comes from their surreal quality-distorted bodies sport extremely large heads. Not for the timid, they portray a cow's pronounced udder hovering over the dog's head, a baby getting "beaned" with a pie, and a man with a sadistic grin happily smashing an annoying bug. Featuring an even more twisted brand of humor than Scieszka's The Stinky Cheese Man (Viking, 1992), this work will serve as a fine introduction to parody for young creative writers.
Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, Wheeler School, Providence, RI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Viking Children's Books (February 23, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670859281
• ISBN-13: 978-0670859283
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,953,114 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jon Scieszka was born in Flint, Michigan on September 8th, 1954. He grew up with five brothers, has the same birthday as Peter Sellers and the Virgin Mary, and a sneaking suspicion that the characters in his Dick and Jane reader were not of this world. Those plain facts, plus his elementary school principal dad, Louis, his registered nurse mom, Shirley (who once took Jon's Cub Scout den on a field trip to the prenatal ward), Mad Magazine, four years of pre-med undergrad, "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show", an M.F.A. in Fiction from Columbia University, Robert Benchley, five years of painting apartments in New York City, his lovely wife Jeri Hansen who introduced him to Molly Leach and Lane Smith, Green Eggs and Ham, his teenage daughter Casey and almost teenage son Jake, ten years of teaching a little bit of everything from first grade to eighth grade, and the last twenty years of living in Brooklyn...are just some of Jon's answers to the questions, "Where do you get your ideas?" and/or "How did you become a writer?" I don't know, just because, none of your beeswax, and flapdoodle poppycock and balderdash are some more of Jon's answers to questions you can imagine on your own. Jon met up with Lane Smith around 1986 or so, and nothing has been the same since. Their first book, the wiseguy fairy tale retelling, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! was initially rejected by most publishers as "too weird" and "too sophisticated". Published by Viking in 1989, The True Story has now sold over a million copies, been translated into ten languages, and been called a "classic picture book for all ages". Jon and Lane's The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992) took the world of the picture book a few steps further. Goofing with the conventions of fairy tales and even being a book, The Stinky Cheese Man became a household word, sold another mess of copies in multiple languages, offended a few purists, and still managed to win a Caldecott Honor medal. Math Curse (1995) further stretched the notion of what subjects make good picture books, selling more books faster than either 3 Little Pigs or Stinky Cheese, and winning a whole slew of awards --all for a book full of mathematics.More recently, Jon and Lane have resurrected fables (in the smart, funny, and a little bit wicked way Aesop would have wanted them) in their latest collaboration, Squids Will Be Squids (1998). No telling where they might take the picture book next. Someone once wrote, "Jon Scieszka has forever changed the face of children's literature." And while there is still some confusion over exactly who that someone was, and whether children's literature does, in fact, have a face, most would agree-from The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! to Squids Will Be Squids, since Scieszka put pen to paper, children's literature sure has been...different.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book!, December 23, 2001

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book that Jack Wrote (Hardcover)

I'm a student teacher and I have used this book in the class I'm with and they love it! The words are powerful and have a very interesitng rhyming pattern. Each page has a new line, that explains the page before.

What I like best about this books is how is repeats itself over and over. The kids love it. Towards the end of the book, they were saying it along with me.

The illustraions are INCREDIBLE!!!

If you're a teacher, I highly suggest you get this book. If you're a parent, I highly suggest you buy this book. You won't be sorry.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful pictures and powerful language, June 28, 2001

By 

M. ODELL (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Book that Jack Wrote (Hardcover)

This book has been a favorite of my 6 year old son since he was 3 or so. For quite a while, it was almost an every evening affair. Now that he's older, he is starting to realize pieces are taken from other stories, and the wonderful circular silliness really appeals to him. Finally, it's a wonderful book to read aloud, playing games with rhythm and speed. Few of his books have held his interest for so long and continue to delight him. How much more do you want in a children's book?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incessant giggling, July 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book that Jack Wrote (Paperback)

This book starts a complete and utter 'gigglefest' at my house every time it's read (which is quite often!), we discovered it from the library and now it's a favorite gift item for all the children that we know. The characters and illustrations are great, and my 5 year old son just loves seeing these well known characters (from other stories) present in this fun book.