Monday, August 31, 2009

Graphic Novel: Jellaby


Ten-year-old Portia meets Jellaby, a huge purple monster, when it tries to eat her flashlight while she's out in the woods iin the middle of the night. It doesn’t say anything, and is actually very timid and sweet, so Portia takes it home and feeds it a tuna sandwich. Life becomes increasingly exciting as she tries to keep Jellaby a secret.
Lonely classmate Jason discovers Jellaby's existence, and helps Portia care for the monster. When Jellaby points out a photograph from the newspaper, the kids think the monster has given them a clue to its home, but they’ll need to visit Toronto to learn more. Portia and Jason have the physical proportions of the Peanuts gang, and Jellaby is too cute to be scary, but Soo grounds the story in a fairly gritty contemporary reality, where kids deal with bullies and well-meaning adults try to help. Clear, clean lines and easy-to-follow panel layouts round out the package. An excellent graphic novel pick for kids in grades 4-7.
Graphic Novel
Grades 4-7
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