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A review by ragesandpages
A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz
3.0
At first glance, the illustrations of the book are gorgeous. It is stylized, but when emotions like fear or anger are displayed, the pictures prominently evoke that emotion. The colors flow along with the abstractness of the pictures well.
Alan is similar to the animals in which he loves; they cannot speak and "get the words out" and neither can he. While Alan grows up, he still feels broken inside even though he has overcame his stutter. But he then talks about how he is now a voice for the jaguars and other endangered animals in the world. He's at home with the animals.
Readers should be aware that the tone of the book is from a conservationist point of view. The author explains that the animals should be saved, but doesn't really allow for more explanation other than hunters are killing them for "their bodies", which is understandable for a picture book. This book is one of the titles listed for my essentials of children's literature class that I have coming up in the next semester; I'll give it a three for the illustrations, but the story seems a bit scattered and should be more cohesive.
Themes: speech disabilities, stuttering, conversation, wild cats -- jaguars
Alan is similar to the animals in which he loves; they cannot speak and "get the words out" and neither can he. While Alan grows up, he still feels broken inside even though he has overcame his stutter. But he then talks about how he is now a voice for the jaguars and other endangered animals in the world. He's at home with the animals.
Readers should be aware that the tone of the book is from a conservationist point of view. The author explains that the animals should be saved, but doesn't really allow for more explanation other than hunters are killing them for "their bodies", which is understandable for a picture book. This book is one of the titles listed for my essentials of children's literature class that I have coming up in the next semester; I'll give it a three for the illustrations, but the story seems a bit scattered and should be more cohesive.
Themes: speech disabilities, stuttering, conversation, wild cats -- jaguars