  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 08/01/2019 Oh, dear. Jim awakens to find that he is now a hungry lion, who's uninterested in the pancakes his mother is making, but who's very interested in gobbling up his mother. (She was delicious.) Though Jim feels bad, he's still hungry, so look out, people in his way. Jim has an ongoing argument with his stomach about the rudeness of just devouring people, but his hunger pangs win. Things take a turn when Jim meets a bear who declares he will be the eater. Alas, the bear, too, gets eaten, but, as Jim learns, you can't eat a bear and still be hungry. In fact, as he heads home, he disgorges all whom he's gorged, but, as Jim finds himself becoming a boy again, he's going to have do something about the bear in his bedroom. This is a one-joke story, albeit a pretty funny one. The art sidesteps the actual devouring, which is a plus for the faint of heart/stomach but probably loses some laughs. Use this at story hour and expect giggles, shrieks, and groans. - Copyright 2019 Booklist. School Library Journal - 09/01/2019 PreS-KâYoung Jim wakes up one morning supremely hungry. He is also feeling beastly. He wanders downstairs, only to eat his mother. Conflicted, he flees the house, running through town, gobbling nearly everyone he encounters. His stomach continues to growl, but Jim feels sad and ashamed. Finally, contemplating his next move in the woods, Jim is confronted by a bear that he quickly gobbles up. Now satiated, Jim makes the journey home, and along the way, things begin to return to their normal, more pleasant, state. Part Kafkaesque tale and part homage to Maurice Sendak, as noted in the dedication, this book is a pure delight. The text is straightforward, with simple sentences and boldface words for emphasis, making it very accessible to young readers. Jim's internal struggle with his stomach, with the hyperbole of being hungry enough to eat a bear, is comical and whimsical, while also extremely relatable. The dialogue is cheeky and funny, as the bear tells Jim he must eat him because, well, he's a bear. Groenink's illustrations are stunning, reminiscent of Sendak with a touch more lightness. VERDICT A definite celebration of his style and not an outright copy, this is a must-have for fans of Sendak who adore tales of wildness; sure to have readers young and old giggling with joy.âKaitlin Malixi, Kensington Health Sciences Academy, Philadelphia - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
 |