FICTION

Jessica's Box

illus. by Peter Carnavas. 32p. Kane Miller. 2015. Tr $11.99. ISBN 9781610673471. LC 2014939758.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 1—First published in Australia, this heartwarming book about a girl's first week at school is notable not only for what it does say but what it doesn't. Jessica decides the best way to make friends at her new school is to attract attention, so she brings something with her in a big cardboard box, but when the children see it's only a stuffed bear, they laugh or walk away. The next day she fills the box with cupcakes that she's baked herself, but the children disappear as soon as they've snatched one. On the third day, she puts her dog, Doris, in the box. "Everyone wanted to talk to Jessica. It felt wonderful." But dogs aren't allowed at school, and Doris is taken home. The next day "[Jessica] just [wants] to disappear." She puts the empty box on her head, until a boy says "Found you!" and starts a game of hide-and-seek. Reminiscent of Rosemary Wells's classic Timothy Goes to School (Penguin, 1981), this simple tale of the desire to make friends at a new school is so believable that one hardly notices that Jessica is in a wheelchair, and that is one of the book's major strengths. Neither Jessica nor her family dwell on her disability, focusing instead on a more universal theme, the longing to be liked and accepted. Lots of white space surrounds the cartoonish illustrations, whose simple lines complement the spare text.
VERDICT A charming book that speaks to the desire of all children to be liked for who they are.

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