Zathura? No, Jumanji
Written: Oct 28 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The interesting premise. The wonderful artwork.
Cons: I'm not in the right age group to fully appreciate it.
The Bottom Line: I think kids who like playing games will get a kick out of this book. It's also worth checking out for the illustrations.
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| Jellyn's Full Review: Chris Van Allsburg - Jumanji |
The previews for the Zathura movie made me curious to know more. It turns out that the writer of the original Zathura book is also the writer of Jumanji and Polar Express. I've seen Jumanji and decided I was interested in reading the original.
I had thought it was a YA or children's novel, but it turns out to be a picture book instead. There is some text to tell the story, but the pictures are surely what made it award-winning.
The Story
Two children are home alone and bored. They find this intriguing jungle-themed board game called Jumanji. The instructions don't make it sound terribly interesting to play, but they're bored enough to give it a shot. In Jumanji, when you land on a square and a lion makes you go back several places, a real lion shows up in the room. But lions are just the start. There's much more in store.
It's a short, fun story that will have you looking at games in a different way.
The Artwork
I really like the artwork. I don't know much about art, so I won't try to use fancy words without knowing what I'm talking about. They're black and white drawings with quite a lot of detail. If you've seen Polar Express, the design is quite similar. Go figure. I wish I could draw like that. The monkeys look just a touch malevolent, which is great.
Compared to the Movie
The movie has a more involved plot than the book. I think that makes the movie more interesting to the older viewer/reader. The book is only about two children who play the game, not about a boy who gets sucked into the game for decades and comes back when new children start playing. There's also a different tone, I think. In the movie, the children seem to be in real danger and some rather nasty and scary things happen. In the book, it feels much more like The Cat in the Hat. Just a bit of fun while the parents are away.
The Text
I'm not going to try to describe the text of the story. Instead I'll just give a snippet. You can judge the reading level on your own.
"At home, the children spread the game out on a card table. It looked very much like the games they already had. There was a board that unfolded, revealing a path of colored squares. The squares had messages written on them. The path started in the deepest jungle and ended up in Jumanji, a city of golden buildings and towers."
Bottom Line
If you or your children liked the movie, then it's certainly worth checking out the book. I like the premise of the story and I really like the artwork. There's not a lot of complex characterizations or plot though, so if you're hoping for a more detailed view than the movie gave, you're not going to get it.
Details
I don't know if all versions are like this, but this copy is a large hardcover picture book. There's 28 pages; half of them contain the text of the story and half of them are full-page pictures. It seems quite sturdily put together with a sewn binding rather than just glue. ISBN 0395304482.
The cover declares it a Caldecott Medal winner.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Jellyn
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Location: New Hampshire
Reviews written: 210
Trusted by: 48 members
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