  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 03/01/2018 PreS-Gr 2— In this charming circular story, a homemade jetpack is the catalyst for a boisterous fantasy adventure that blasts a young engineer from home, to school, on a visit to his Nana, and finally to outer space before he starts to miss his family and returns to Earth. The cast of characters is stylized clothes-wearing animals, appealingly reminiscent of the inhabitants of Richard Scarry's Busytown. The writing is cheerful and straightforward, and the illustrations often fill in humorous details to the plot, giving young readers and their adults great fodder for conversation about the clever interplay between words and images. Storytime crowds will warm to the book's fast-paced action, and independent readers will delight in the zany illustrations. In addition to fostering a sense of curiosity and invention, this book encourages a spirit of kindness, as many of the protagonist's imaginary adventures involve him helping others. VERDICT An energetic, crowd-pleasing read-aloud that can be revisited again and again.—Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 03/01/2018 A far cry from Detlefsen’s realistic picture book Time for Cranberries (2015), this imaginative one begins with a hypothetical: “If you found yourself bored, with nothing to do, you could build your own JETPACK.” A young rabbit heads the cast of dressed-animal characters. After he builds a jetpack for himself and one for his little brother, they wear them to school, where they “play Turbo Tag at recess (cautiously).” Later, Mama gives her bunnies permission to visit their nana, so they take off (immediately). With each turn of the page, the story moves along, sometimes in an unexpected direction, but finally reminding us that imaginative folks are never bored for long. The amiable text creates its own rhythm, ambling along in an entertaining way, and then creating a pause periodically with a single significant adverb such as firmly, boldly, or unexpectedly. Hunter’s quirky, rather busy digital artwork captures the droll tone of the story. This vivid picture book will leave kids longing for jetpacks, while taking off on their own flights of fancy. - Copyright 2018 Booklist. Loading...
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